March 16: THE CHURCH AS A HOSPITAL

If a church is healthy, it’s probably because it is operating as a hospital. Contradiction? No! In our ongoing effort to make the New Testament Church relevant to this generation, one explanation may be the comparison to the hospital. Many have their first experience with the hospital when they come to the Emergency Room. After the basic problems are clarified, the patient is transferred to the Intensive Care unit. The care given is more problem-specific and the medical solutions have urgency.
If the patient begins to respond and shows a strong move toward healing, the Progressive Care unit will receive the person and treatment will begin that will normalize their life situation. Evidence being shown that healing is under way, the patient is placed in the wards with the rest of the population on the road to “wholeness” or “wellness”. Then the patient is released back to the real world, where the problem started, returning to the hospital on a outpatient basis.
OK, Compare this: When you recognized that you were lost and separated from God, it was a spiritual emergency that took you to a church building. Because of your condition, you were given intensive care of prayer and Bible teaching by loving, care-giving believers. When you came to faith, you were progressively taught to walk by faith, following the example of those Christians who had already learned. Then you joined the whole body of believers in regular worship and ministry as your faith experience grew stronger.
When you made your first “outpatient” visit to your old past environment, you rejoiced in the new life you had been given. Final release? Big question? Not until you die! Then you will get to “go home”. (In John 14:2 Jesus said “I go to prepare a place for you.”)
You see, as our healing progresses, we walk back in with our new strength for feeding, therapy, and care and then go back out to tell the story of our “new life”.
Does your church home operate as a “Hospital”? Forward this Devotional to as many of the members as you can and ask their opinion?

“Jesus, in the First Century they called you ‘The Great Physician’ so
You must have been comfortable with the idea of our needing Your
Church to fulfill a Clinic role, at least, in our town. Amen”