In this episode of the Rediscover Bethel video series, Bill Johnson and Bethel Associate Pastor and Dean of BSSM Dann Farrelly discuss more on The Theology of Sickness.1
i just i just don’t want to create a
theology that insulates us from the
obvious need to seek the healer for the
healing
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a phrase somebody you know thought you
might have said is i refuse to create a
theology that allows for sickness
and and so
if i’m have ongoing sickness that’s like
what what do you mean by that is this my
fault so maybe you speak to that what
are you trying to say with that sentence
what are you not trying to say with that
idea um what i’m not saying
is that if somebody’s sick they’ve got
sin in their life
or they have no faith or
their theology is bad or any of those
things could be true but that’s it’s not
an automatic and it’s it’s never a
statement
is i never would make a statement like
that
to pin somebody to uh to confront
somebody or to
expose them or shame them in any way
it’s a personal
statement that that i am not going to
allow in my world
sickness to be equal with suffering for
the lord i’m not going to deify it i’m
not going to sanctify sickness as having
this divine role can god use it my
goodness he can use everything
he can use my stupid choices
you know to teach me and train me and
advance me in the kingdom he he just he
can win with anything absolutely but it
doesn’t mean he designed it and i i
won’t
sanctify sickness in that sense
that i say
god gave it to me to make me a better
you know to learn suffering or whatever
well if he gave it to me why do i go to
the doctor i’m warring against what he
what he gave me then we’ve got to think
through these things because
because they’re they’re they’re not
treated that way in scripture jesus
never once
came to somebody and said ah
and it’s just it’s just not time you
need to walk in this pain or this
blindness or whatever another year or so
and you’ll be ready he just never did
that we do that but he didn’t do that
and so i’m just trying to
i’m trying to respect what i think he
respected i’m trying to honor what i
think he honored
and uh and just not uh
uh make a spiritual uh a disease you
know let’s call it for what it is
you know yeah yeah god can use it
you know but
but it’s not his design yeah are we
that’s all i think you said the
sometimes i’ll talk about it like
suffering isn’t a virtue
yes and you can go through suffering
with virtue
yes with the hand of the lord with you
know
walking hand in hand but when we embrace
suffering as a virtue that that invites
all sorts of brokenness and then and
stamps the approval of god on it yeah
and it’s really a dangerous place to be
so that’s what you’re trying to say it’s
like exactly
it’s it’s like
if i see sickness as my chance to suffer
for jesus
where do i have liberty to pursue
healing because you don’t want to
violate what he the work he’s doing in
you
and it’s just that
that tension is never addressed in
jesus’s life and that’s why
that’s why i have to approach it that
way on the other hand somebody comes to
me in great pain or sickness it’s mercy
mercy mercy it’s just let’s just try to
help them i mean yeah and even we see
you know paul it seems like he came to
one community he was like who said he
was weak he doesn’t quite explicitly say
he had a sickness but he’s weak he’s
just not thriving and they they didn’t
beat him up for that they still
respected his message and what he
brought to them
so he was celebrating like i came week
and you guys you guys met me and then he
struggled with epaphrodes for his friend
in prayer and then finally says then the
lord had mercy yeah yeah yeah
you know and uh and spared me uh from
this grief and so we see paul having to
wrestle through continue in prayer and
then but then he got the breakthrough in
the sickness and was
really grateful for it yeah there was
only one target
and that was the health of of his friend
yeah and that’s the target and uh i just
i just don’t want to create a theology
that insulates us from the obvious need
to seek the healer for the healing in
the same way i would say
that again so you don’t want to create a
theology that insulates us or keeps us
from the need deadens me
from my awareness i’ve got to go to
jesus to be healed in the same way i’ve
got to go to jesus to be forgiven i’ve
got to you know i need help with
relationship or with finances or
whatever it might be i’m going to go to
him with these things and i don’t want
this
what i consider to be a false narrative
a false theology that insulates me from
my awareness of
of the need and privilege to go to him
and we kind of get back to that idea
that jesus’s perfect theology again is
just that when we see in the life of
jesus he makes no case for this is
character building to stay a little
longer and that he heals everybody who
comes to him
um
that we see in scripture so that’s like
we go like that if that’s what his role
was that’s what we embrace as well right
right he he didn’t he didn’t heal
everyone who was sick in that day no
because we see uh the guy they walked by
they get beautiful you know he’s there
for how many years and uh and everybody
at the pool of salome except the one guy
yeah yeah so it’s it’s not like shazam
everybody’s well now
it wasn’t that it was it was
it’s a relational journey
it’s the people who came to him as the
people he connected with it’s you know
this blind bartimaeus in the back of the
crowd yelling out for help it’s it’s
this relational journey where he
responded in mercy and
and to me that’s the beautiful picture
is it’s it’s uh
it’s him being moved with compassion for
for people in his journey
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