As postscript (P.S.) to my previous blog on the subject of a church being a hospital for the sick, I dare to add more reasons why a church should not be labeled metaphorically as a hospital. Aside from the fact that the church is not a place but a congregation of born-again believers whose primary objective is to glorify and worship God, it is also a body of genuine believers of Christ that seek to edify each other by utilizing the spiritual gifts endowed to each one by God.

For anyone to keep on saying the church as a hospital doesn’t know what a hospital is. Personally, I have been hospitalized three times already. The first time was when I had an accident that almost killed me. The mark of that hospitalization is still evident on my face as a scar in-between my eyebrows. The second was when I had an appendectomy that almost killed me also because the anesthesiologist administered an overdose of anesthesia in my spinal cord. The third was when I had a cholecystectomy (gall bladder surgery) done the traditional surgery procedures (cutting open the body). I can tell everyone with certainty that in all my encounters with hospitals, they were all painful physically and financially. And considering the strict regimen that I had to observe while in the hospitals, I did not have any alternative choice at all but to follow what the physicians prescribed.

For the sake of discussion, let us assume that the church is indeed a hospital for the sick people who need treatment. The primary objective of the hospital is to restore the “sick people” to their original healthy condition. Therefore, following this rationale, those people who go to the church should follow the spiritual prescriptions and strict regimen being administered by the spiritual leaders of the church. Failure to do so, the sick will not get well but worse. Sad to note, those who go to the church now want to get healed their way instead of God’s way. They play doctor’s role instead of sick patients’ role. If they do not get their way, they go to another church for second opinion.

James 1:5 says “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

As genuine believers of Christ, may we be found faithful in asking God wisdom in matters we do not understand!

*****mbl*****