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Complementary
and alternative medicine (CAM) continues to make
the news. In most health care settings, these therapies
are beginning to appear as fairly standard options.
However, controversy continues to surround them.
Christians seem divided in their acceptance of CAM.
A few comments that I’ve heard recently include:
“These therapies allow nurses to manipulate energy
to bring harmony and balance, which brings healing.
If something has worked for thousands of years,
maybe we should try it.”
“Alternative
therapies are demonic—Christians should have nothing
to do with them.”
“We’ve got to stop being so afraid of new approaches;
after all, most of these therapies have been scientifically
proven effective now.” On the one hand, it seems
that everybody has at least tried a few herbal supplements
or relaxation techniques. Reputable health care
systems are offering everything from yoga and Reiki
to acupuncture. It seems that everybody’s doing
it. On the other hand, the nursing literature and
popular press increasingly warn about toxic effects
of seemingly harmless natural remedies. Scientific
studies remain inconclusive, and the proponents
of many alternative therapies are becoming more
open about their spiritual connections.
How
can we faithfully determine whether alternative
therapies can be used safely and effectively? The
plumb line for the Christian is the Bible, but turning
to the Bible for guidance confronts us with some
big surprises. Almost all the health care advocated
in the Bible consisted of alternative therapies.
When
Moses led the nation of Israel out of Egypt, they
left behind some of the most advanced medical care
in civilization. However, God offered them an alternative
health system, saying, “If you will listen carefully
to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is
right in his sight, and give heed to his commandments
and keep all his statutes, I will not bring upon
you any of the diseases that I brought upon the
Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you” (Ex
15:26). Rather than follow the innately religious
health practices of the Egyptians, God instructed
the Israelites to set up a program of sanitation,
nutrition and healthy relationships (see Leviticus
11—19).
We
see other types of alternative therapies in the
Old Testament, as well. David used music therapy
to comfort Saul (1 Sam 16). Daniel and his friends
stayed healthy in captivity by requesting a vegetarian
diet instead of the rich food of the Babylonian
court (Dan 1). Hezekiah prayed for healing and applied
a poultice of figs to his life-threatening abscess
(2 Kings 20).
You
don’t read much about physicians in the New Testament.
Dr. Luke seems to have given up his medical practice
to follow Jesus, the Great Physician. In Mark 5,
we read about a woman who turned to Jesus as the
last alternative, for she had “endured much under
many physicians, and had spent all she had; but
she was no better, but rather grew worse” (Mk 5:26).
The
Bible was never intended to be a medical textbook.
It does not provide us with a handy bag of tricks
or a set of guaranteed healing techniques. Instead,
we find some solid principles for health promotion
and caring for the sick.
Principle
#1: Follow the laws of nature. The health code
in Leviticus provides some fascinating directives.
Avoid contaminated food and water. Get enough rest.
Use universal precautions—isolate people with contagious
diseases; don’t handle food after touching contaminated
material until after the incubation period for disease
has passed; wash your hands. Keep sexual contact
within the boundaries of marriage. Circumcise baby
boys. Be careful with body fluids. Take baths. Wash
your clothes and bedding after recovering from a
contagious disease. Clean the mildew out of your
homes. Wash your dishes. And all of this should
take place in the context of regular worship and
faithful human relationships.
Principle
#2: Health is more than the absence of disease.
Long before the World Health Organization declared
this, the Bible made it clear that true health could
be found only in relationship to God and his people.
Health and salvation were literally synonymous.
Jesus could heal a paralytic by saying, “Your sins
are forgiven” (Mt 9:2). Isaiah 53:5 prophesied of
the Messiah: “He was wounded for our transgressions
. . .and by his bruises we are healed.”
Principle
#3: The spiritual connections of a healing technique
matter. God warned the Israelites, “Do not turn
to mediums or wizards; do not seek them out, to
be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God” (Lev
19:31). When Simon the magician sought power to
heal for the wrong reasons, the apostles Peter and
John censured him publicly (Acts 8:9-13). When the
seven sons of Sceva tried to use Jesus’ name as
a magic charm to cast out an evil spirit, the demon
itself cried out, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know;
but who are you?” (Acts 19:13-16). Throughout both
the Old and New Testaments, we see the pitfalls
of turning to other gods or spirits for healing,
knowledge or power. Even if a technique appeared
to work, if used for the wrong reasons or in league
with the wrong spirits, it eventually brought corruption
and spiritual destruction.
Principle
#4: Care for the sick. In Luke 10, the story
of the Good Samaritan illustrates what faithfulness
to God entails. It is embodied in caring for the
sick and disenfranchised. Jesus further drove home
that point in Matthew 25. Prevention is important,
but we will always have the sick among us. We cannot
abandon them.
Principle
#5: It’s all about faithfulness. God does not
guarantee health, wealth, success or even comfort
to his people. Jesus healed many people, but he
did not heal everyone. Following God’s principles
for healthy living may improve our health and prolong
our lives, but we will still die. Some of God’s
cherished children will die painful deaths at a
young age. Others may languish in bodies that will
never be whole until they are raised to new life.
Life is not fair. But God is just, and his steadfast
love endures forever. And so, we wait for a new
heaven and a new earth.
In
the meantime, as we care for the sick, we can faithfully
avail ourselves of all that science, technology
and faithful living have to offer. We are free to
try alternatives, as long as they do not require
us to compromise our good sense or our relationship
with God.—JAS
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