Jesus said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.”
(Matthew 9:12)
It has often been said that the church is a hospital for sinners not a hotel for saints. And so it is.
Unfortunately however, the idea that we are all “sick” often leads us to believe that the church is supposed to be our own, private, “emergency room”. It can seem at times as though this is OUR hospital with OUR physician that is supposed to meet OUR needs. People may be “sick” all around us, but this is for us. I don’t believe that Jesus meant that he was to be anyone’s own, private
physician. In fact, I’m pretty sure that he meant just the opposite; that he was everyone’s physician, not just to a chosen few. Nor did he say that only the “healthy” could bring in the “sick”. And we hear words to that effect too often. “I don’t know anything about the Bible, so how could I teach it?” “I have too many doubts to be able to talk to someone else about faith.” “I can’t invite anyone to church because I’m not even a member.” What all of these comments seem to be saying is, “Wait until I’m healthy. Wait until I’m not sick. Wait until I know more, believe more, and am more committed, then I can bring people with me to church.” So yes, we may still need our Great Physician, and yes we may still depend upon the church to be our spiritual and emotional “emergency room”, but it is not just ours. It’s for all of God’s “sick”. And we, like those who have found a medicine that heals and comforts, bring others to the Great Healer of Our Souls.

I’ll see you in church.
~Roy