Preach and Heal: A Biblical Model for Missions. Charles Fielding, MD., Published by the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, 2008, USA. (213 Pages plus Appendixes)
I received the copy several months ago from a colleague. Honestly, it sat on my “to read” shelf for far too long. It would still be there though bad I not front-loaded it in front of several systematic theologies and an array of Puritan writers given to me by my Associate Pastor.
This book is written from the experience and observations of an IMB Field Worker who comes from the career field of medicine. He successfully builds the case that the “biblical” approach to engaging unreached people groups involves a two-pronged approach of both Preaching (proclamation) and Healing (ministry).
Fielding notes that individuals rarely come “wired” to be passionate for both approaches. Usually, a person is predisposed/biased toward one approach or the other (p.16). The outworking of this bias often manifests in ministries that are heavily “social” in nature…or “evangelistic/discipleship” in nature. The social ministries often ignore the greatest need a person has– to be reconciled with a Holy God through knowledge and acceptance of eternal life as provided by Christ Jesus. The evangelistic/discipleship (crusade) ministries tend to “step over” real needs of people and head straight to the gospel. They are naive to the reality that a hungry person cannot hear about the love of God over the growling of their own stomachs.
Any comprehensive missions strategy must recognize and implement a method which addresses both the physical and spiritual needs of an individual.
Strengths of the book:
The book prompted me to think about our approach to missions. It is important that we enter a community/engage a people group with honesty. If we say that we are in business, then we ought to be in business. If we claim to be relief workers, then we ought to bring relief. This cemented in my mind the fact that God uses people from all walks of life to accomplish his task of missions. Perhaps a banker in Florida would make a good banker/missionary in New York; or a nurse in Florida would make a great medical worker/missionary in Zimbabwe. A teacher in America could be an incredible teacher/missionary in Egypt while a business person in America could certainly be a business person/missionary in South America. Rather than take a person with particular gifts and training…and re-train him/her to do something else, perhaps we should impress upon believers the value of their preparation in life and how God can use it to engage peoples around the world.
I even wondered what it would be like if parents trained their children for this expressed purpose. What if moms and dads trained their children to become teachers so that they could move to Europe and teach? What if parents sent their children to medical school/training so that they could move immediately upon graduation to a place in the world in need of medical care. What if the primary goal of parents was to train and deploy their children as “kingdom agents” all around the world?
Weaknesses of the book:
A couple of weaknesses were noted. I am not seeking to be critical; however, some will take it this way. I think that some of the arguments made in the book come from the bias and background of the author. As such, some of the “biblical” arguments are presented from eisegesis, not exegesis.
First, the author asserts that the “highest priority [of Christ-followers] is to advance the Gospel to regions and ethnic groups with no access to the Gospel so that all nations will know about the greatness of God and salvation” (p.64). This is a high priority and has been neglected for far too long (in my opinion) by the church which, at times, has looked inward rather than outward for various reasons. However, to claim that the unreached people groups are a higher priority than the unreached people of North America or South America, or Europe…fails to emerge from the biblical text. This is a value statement based on the passions of this godly worker who is engaged in the task of overseas missions. Praise God for him and his passion; however, the Great commission is an “as you are going…preach, teach, and baptize” message (Matthew 28:18-20). It ascribes no greater value on unreached people with no access to the gospel than it does on unreached Jews who were in Synagogue every Saturday with an Old Testament that pointed directly to the Messiah (Luke 24:44-45).
One other “issue” where the author’s predisposition surfaced. According to the author, healing (meeting the needs of the community) is a command of Scripture. He cites Matthew 10:7-8 as the biblical support. This interpretation is flawed. The command to the disciples to “heal the sick” was part of the apostolic “signs” given to accompany the proclamation of the message that the Kingdom of God was at hand. There is no command for the church to meet the social needs of culture. There is an example of the church meeting the needs of those within its community (Acts 2, Acts 4), but to assign this as normative conduct towards the Roman Empire is a stretch.
Now some are probably fighting mad and ready to argue this point…so let me be clear. I believe in and practice social ministry with those outside of the church as a methodology to engaging them with the Gospel…but I find no explicit command in Scripture to do this as a normal course of conduct for the church. The church was not given the command to establish a global health care system, welfare system, and education system. These may be tools we use to communicate the Gospel, but our task is making disciples, equipping them, and deploying them to duplicate themselves among ALL the nations of the World.
This surfaces an implication: When we conduct a block party, water giveaway, milk and bread giveaway, car wash, gas card giveaway, building project/cleanup for a non-believer…are we fulfilling a mandate from the Scripture. The answer seems clear. NO, not if the activity is our end goal. If the activity is a means to an end (proclamation to/reconciliation of a person separated from God) then we are effectively carrying out the Great Commission. If not, we are busy pursuing our own agenda, not necessarily God’s.
Overall, I found the book to be a good read and enlightening/refreshing. I found the author’s passion to be contagious and his candor to be an encouragement. I recommend that others read this book and glean from it a more biblically sound and effective strategy of missions, to the glory of God!
Culture Shift: The Battle for the Moral Heart of America by R. Albert Mohler Jr. . (Multnomah Books, Colorado Springs, 2008,2011). 185 pages reviewed.
