There are truths I need to come back to every day because my natural mind can forget them so easily. One of those truths is that the Bible is not simply a book about God. It is God speaking. Scripture is God-breathed, and the words of Jesus are spirit and life. When I come to the Bible, I do not want only information, history, or moral instruction. I want God to speak to me and give life.
The Word of God is alive. It is powerful, sharp, and full of the life of the Spirit. That is why we must never reduce Scripture to a collection of religious ideas. There is power in God's Word to change us, to bring life, and to lift our eyes toward what God is doing.
That matters when we talk about healing. Healing is not an option that the church may simply leave out because it feels uncomfortable or difficult. I am not saying every church must have the same style, size, music, or personality. God does not want us to imitate somebody else's ministry. Be yourself. God will not anoint your impersonation of another person. He made you uniquely, and he wants Christ to be seen through you as you are.
But while churches may look different from one another, the church should look like Jesus. That is the simple answer. Romans 8 tells us that God's purpose is for us to be conformed to the image of his Son. The question is not merely, “What job should I take?” or “Where should I live?” God's will is that we should be changed and transformed into the image of Jesus.
Jesus said that whoever had seen him had seen the Father. He also said, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” (John 20:21). The world may not read the Bible, but people will read the Christian life they see in us. As we go through ordinary life—at work, in a shop, over coffee, or in our homes—we are called to show people what Jesus looks like.
We do not get to choose only the parts of Jesus that suit us. We cannot take his kindness while rejecting his power, or speak about his teaching while ignoring his compassion for the sick and the oppressed. We are called to follow the whole Jesus. When we look at the Gospels, healing is not a minor subject. Jesus regularly preached the gospel and healed the sick. He sent the twelve to heal the sick, cleanse lepers, raise the dead, and cast out demons. Then he sent seventy-two others to do the same kind of work.
Jesus did not send his followers merely to explain healing. He sent them to minister healing. He told them, “Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8). At the end of Matthew's Gospel, he commanded his disciples to make disciples and teach them to observe everything he had commanded. In Mark 16, the signs that follow believers include laying hands on the sick so that they recover.
The ministry of healing is therefore not an embarrassing addition to Christianity. It is part of the ministry of Jesus and part of what he gave to his people. A church that deliberately sanitizes Jesus, removing everything supernatural because it might appear strange, is not protecting the gospel. It is lowering the church's vision of Jesus to fit our comfort.
This does not mean we pretend to have every answer. I see people healed, and I also see people who are not healed. I do not understand everything that happens. But I refuse to lower Jesus to match my experience. I want to raise my experience to meet the truth of Scripture.
That also means we must not blame the person who is sick. I have never wanted to tell somebody, “You do not have enough faith.” That is cruel, and it is not our place to judge what is in another person's heart. Nor should we make the opposite judgment and tell somebody that they have perfect faith when we do not know that either. The right response is humility: I do not know everything, but I do know that God's Word is true.
I would rather pray for a hundred people and see one person healed than pray for nobody and see nobody healed. We are not being asked to become impressive religious celebrities. We are being asked to follow Jesus, love people, and keep learning. We should have a go—not because we can control the outcome, but because Jesus has commanded us to minister to people.
We also need the power of the Holy Spirit. Throughout church history, believers have continued to experience the gifts and power of the Spirit. The idea that all supernatural ministry simply disappeared when the last apostle died is not taught by a clear verse of Scripture. The church has repeatedly drifted when it has moved away from the Bible, and it has repeatedly been renewed when the Word of God has been brought back to ordinary people.
The Bible belongs in the hands of the whole church. God's Word gives light. It is not reserved for a special class of people. We need Scripture, the Holy Spirit, and a living relationship with Jesus. We need the Word to shape our expectations more than our traditions do.
The church drifts when it loses the Bible.
We have seen that throughout history. When Scripture is hidden from ordinary people, superstition and legalism quickly take its place. When the Word is opened again, light comes back and people are reminded that salvation and ministry are gifts of grace, not achievements reserved for an elite.
There are different dimensions to learning how to minister healing. Faith matters. The anointing matters. Authority matters. We should seek understanding, but we must remember that God is bigger than our systems and our theology.
It is possible to understand a method so carefully that we forget to come to Jesus like children. Healing is not about finding a formula or saying the perfect words. It is about letting Jesus flow through ordinary people who are willing to obey him.
We should also remember that ministry begins with love. A person is not a problem to solve or a test of our reputation. A person is someone Jesus loves. That changes the way we pray, the way we listen, and the way we respond when the outcome is not what we hoped.
We do not need to perform.
We need to be present, compassionate, and obedient. We can ask questions, listen carefully, pray simply, and leave the result in God's hands. The goal is not to make ourselves look powerful. The goal is to help people encounter Jesus.
Small acts of obedience matter. A simple prayer can open a door, strengthen a discouraged believer, or remind a suffering person that they have not been forgotten.
We should never make healing the only thing we talk about. Jesus is bigger than one subject. But we must give healing the place Jesus gave it. We should give the poor, missions, the proclamation of the gospel, discipleship, and healing the place Jesus gave each of them—neither more nor less.
The world needs a church that loves Jesus and loves people. It needs a church that will pray for its leaders rather than simply attack them. It needs a church that is free from guilt and shame, filled with the Holy Spirit, and willing to carry the presence of Jesus into everyday life. It needs a church that will heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, and proclaim the good news with courage and compassion.
We do not need to copy somebody else's personality or ministry style. We need to become more like Jesus. We need to look at him, listen to his Word, receive his Spirit, and keep moving toward him when our experience is incomplete. Healing is not an option because Jesus is not an option. If we are going to be his church, then the church should look like Jesus.
