FROM A VISIT TO THE DOCTOR...

Several years had passed since I had been to a doctor. During the doctor's recent examination and conversation, I kept thinking of how his vocation and a pastor's were not all that different (although the doctor, no doubt, has invested much more in initial education and training.). Jesus noted this parallel analogizing His mission as a physician who had come, not for the well but for the ill. Thus, I not only saw the comparisons between what the doctor does for one's body and a pastor does for one's soul, I also saw contrasts in a "patient's" response to each. The doctor examined me: He quizzed me about my habits, diet, sleep patterns, exercise. He probed and pushed and peered. He even hit me with a hammer. Not once did I become angry with him. In fact, I noted with appreciation how thorough he was being. Often, in personal counseling, a pastor will question and quiz the counselee trying to get to the root of the matter. The Word of God during his preaching will probe the heart, push into closed rooms, peer into darkened corners. Often, the one the pastor is trying to help becomes upset at him because such examination is uncomfortable. After the examination, the doctor proceeded to diagnosis, to reveal his findings: Even if the diagnosis is something as traumatic as the news of cancer, the patient often collects himself enough to thank genuinely the doctor for discovering and revealing to him what was wrong. Likewise, the pastor will often, either during a one on one conversation or through the preaching, which the Spirit customizes and directs to the individual, tell a person what is wrong with his soul. Instead of grabbing the minister's hand and pumping it vigorously exclaiming, "Thank you, preacher, for pointing out what is wrong with my spiritual life. I am so grateful you discovered it and told me," often a person becomes bitterly upset at the minister. Then there was the prescription: The doctor prescribed what I needed to do: There were habits that needed changed, diet that need altered, further tests to undergo, and medicines to take. I was grateful that the doctor was giving me something to help. I determined to follow the "doctor's orders." The pastor listens carefully. He prays with the one in need. Then, wanting to help the one with the spiritual need, he prescribes a course of action. He, as the doctor, often suggests changes of habit ("have daily devotions"), or alterations of diet ("Really, watching that show can't be helpful to your spiritual life"), or medicines to take ("read or memorize this portion of Scripture."). I often have unintentionally felt like a doctor writing prescriptions. After counseling, I grab my memo pad and jot down applicable passages to be read and absorbed. The point is, the pastor in genuine effort to help has prescribed a regimen for the one who needs spiritual help. Many times, that prescription is not given serious attention or adherence. Thankfully, others do positively respond. All who respond to Jesus, as the Great Physician He is, truly find healing for their souls. All are faced with the same question: Will I submit to the examination, accept the diagnosis, and follow the prescription of The Doctor of doctors?