Ask Amy is an advice column with which Spiritual Perspectives has taken issue (and rightly so) because the author of it frequently contradicts Biblical values. However, the March 6th column was intriguing—not so much for the advice but for the problem itself. A woman in her 30s was sitting outside at a café, drinking a cup of coffee. She was sitting in a wheelchair because of a congenital defect. A man at another table asked “Chairchick” (as she signed her letter) if he could pray for her. She shrugged and said, “Okay.” He then grabbed her hand and asked Jesus to heal her. Then he continued to explain to her how that she could be healed if she “accepted Jesus” into her heart.
Chairchick found his behavior a “tad presumptuous,” undoubtedly being a little sarcastic at such appalling nerve. The zealot who accosted her, however, probably meant well, but he has been woefully misguided by those who preach the “health and wealth” gospel, which is false. The adherents of this doctrine have never learned anything from the Book of Job. All health problems do not result from sin; only God knows if they should be cured—or when. The man who prayed for this woman assumed that sin was the cause for her being in a wheelchair.
“Yes, if you are poor or sick, it’s your own fault,” many have been taught to believe. “It’s God’s will that you be rich and healthy. Only Satan inflicts diseases on people; you must cast him out in order to be well.” Many people hear these inaccuracies week after week, and they believe them. However, such ideas fly in the face of reality. Plenty of wealthy people sin frequently. Many righteous people are afflicted. Have they never heard of Lazarus in Luke 16? With all the so-called “faith” healers in society today, one wonders why it is so difficult to get a room in a hospital at times.
Furthermore, where is the passage that sets forth the idea that “accepting Jesus into your heart” will cure anyone of all maladies? Is that what Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost? “Repent and be baptized for all your illnesses to go away” (Acts 2:38); is that what he said? Even Jesus never said, “If you accept Me into your heart, you can live pain free.” In the first century people were healed—not just for their own benefit—but so that the gospel message might be validated. Chairchick is not the type of individual to feel sorry for herself. She wrote: “I have a loving family, good friends and a rewarding career. The wheelchair is just transportation.” Now who has the healthier attitude toward life?