Medical Missions - My thoughts (Part 1)

Historically, the medical missionary concept or mission doctors were sent to help the missionaries who are preaching the gospel with the health needs of the society, because of two reasons. One, the missionaries themselves were dying. Two, as an act of benevolence as a Christian charity. David Livingstone, Hudson taylor went out with this motive as a medical missionary. But slowly for the past 70 years, medical missionaries have become a separate entity by themselves. Atleast now, most of them go with helping the sick and poor in that area as the primary motive and gospel as a secondary motive. I am not categorizing all medical missionaries like this, but now almost most of them have this as a motive or ‘calling’. Is it biblical?

The medical missionaries reason out like this:

1) Jesus and Apostles did healing ministry:

But it was done by the power of Holy Spirit

As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
(Act 10:36-38)

It was done to authenticate the gospel of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:22, 2 Cor 12:12).

It was always accompanied by preaching and teaching (Mat 4:23).

It was instantaneous healing. (Mat 9:6-8; Acts 3:7-8; Acts 14:1-8,10; Acts 19:11,12; and many more)

2. Healing a person as a whole:

Bible always gives importance to Spiritual healing than physical healing.

1Ti 4:7-8  Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

So if medical missionaries are healing physically the patients who are coming to them, are they also spiritually healing them by preaching the gospel? Most often they give an excuse that they are busy. Yes that is true. But some of them, who don’t want to accept this truth, preach something else to their patients, which is not a gospel and think that they are preaching the gospel. For example ‘Jesus loves you’ is the most common ‘gospel’ of everyone.

I agree that this statement is true and biblical. But it is not the gospel. The gospel is summarised in following verses:

1Co 15:1-4 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,  that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

Are the current medical missionaries truly healing a person as a whole?

3. Luke was a doctor:

Bible mentions Luke as having a profession as a doctor, just like how Peter as a fisherman, Matthew as a tax-collector. Nothing more than this. There is no description of his profession mentioned in the Bible. Just because Luke was a Christian, does that mean he should be called medical missionary? Then Peter should start fishing mission, Paul should start tent-making mission, isn’t it?

4. Showing the love of Christ by the compassionate touch of a doctor:

But as a Christian, whether we are doctors of plumbers, we ought to show the love of Christ by our actions. 

This is not something limited only for Christian doctors.

5. Medicine paves a path for the gospel to ease the opposition:

If that's the case, we would be relying on human effort rather than the power of God. It is not only dishonouring God but also exalts our profession to such an extent that God, who is all powerful, Sovereign, who has all authorities under Him, for whom the earth is just like a drop of dew, should stoop down to a Christian doctor’s help to work on people's heart? Isn’t that sinful? That is a manifestation of pride.

Rather we should need the power of Holy Spirit to work on the people to listen the gospel.

For gospel “it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,” (Rom 1:16).

6. We are doing good deeds for God:

That's a noble motive. But we should remember that while we are practicing medicine for helping the poor, we should do it in such a way how Jesus commanded us to do good deeds.

Mat 6:3-4 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

But very often, medical missionaries talk so much about what they are doing in the mission hospitals, how many patients are healed, how many free surgeries they have done, how many villages they have reached as community work, etc.. about themselves to others. Jesus said this is not a sign of a Christian but a Pharisee.

Mat 6:2  "Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward

So these are my thoughts regarding what a ‘typical medical missionary’ is doing. I understand that most of them are doing this out of ignorance of the Word. But as Proverbs 19:2 says, even if we have zeal, if we don’t do what we are supposed to do, as revealed as in accordance to Scripture, then we are not honouring God.

Yet I still think that even now doctors are needed in mission fields, where there are no health facilities, where missionaries and patients are dying of endemic diseases there. So I would name such doctors as mission doctors, or medical missionaries, whose primary goal is to help the health needs of the missionaries in preaching the gospel. That was how many medical missionaries of past came. I will give some more thoughts in my coming article.

This article is continued in Medical Missions - My thoughts (Part 2)