Where are the sick?

"Jesus said to them, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.'" (Mark 2:17).

Time after time I've seen it. Someone makes a mistake with their life--something obvious and public--and all of a sudden they disappear from church. Or someone becomes mentally ill, and the same thing occurs. When you get sick, you go to the doctor. When you get really sick, you go to the hospital. But get spiritually sick, and suddenly you are isolated as if you have some horriby contageous disease.

Jesus encouraged the spiritually sick to come to him, so why is that the church seems to be such an anti-magnet to the same crowd? Could it be that the majority of people in the church (pastors included) are under the illusion that we are spiritually healthy, and that the sick belong somewhere else, lest they "infect" the rest of us? Where else can they go to encounter Jesus in his flesh and blood--in the body and blood of Christ that is offered in Holy Communion and in the flesh and blood of human beings created in the image of God and redeemed by Jesus so that they might BE Jesus to others in this world. Shunning them or (God forbid) driving them away would be like the hospital receptionist telling a prospective patient that he/she is too sick to be there, and yet it happens all too often in real life.

A colleague of mine decided this past week to remain an independent evangelist rather than tie himself down to a particular congregation. I was disappointed, because I believe that he needs the stability a congregation would bring, but I also understand. As an independent evangelist he is free to minister to those who know they are spiritually ailing, wherever he might find them. As a pastor in a congregation he might well be distracted by the concerns of those who believe they are healthy, or at least pretend that they are, while hiding their sickness inside. The reality is that a parish pastor typically ministers to both, and, if fortunate, he/she can empower those who really are more healthy to help those who are more in need of spiritual healing. That is the power and potential of true Christian community.

My fervent desire for the church is that it might become more like an Alcoholics Anonymous group, where everyone knows that he/she is still sick and in need of constant repentance and reassurance, where the confession we say at the beginning of the worship service is said honestly and with a passion, so that everyone who comes might be willing to simply relax into the company of fellow sinners who are only too eager to help each other experience the love of our Creator God, the redemption of Jesus Christ, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and the blessed consolation of the saints who are the living body of Christ.