It has been fifteen months
since I felt a pain in the back of my throat that sent me first to our family
doctor and then to the hospital by ambulance. I felt fine. I couldn’t see why
everyone else was getting so excited. It was a simple pain that only occurred
when I was on the treadmill and went away when I got off the torture machine.
Our local doctor knew better
and the heart catheterization at the hospital confirmed the real problem. A
major heart artery had a 95% blockage due to an unusual crook that allowed junk
to build up. The problem had probably been there since before birth. It finally
revealed itself after more than 60 years of regular exercise and generally
controlled eating (except at church homecomings). A healthy exterior belied a
deteriorating cardiac arterial system.
Google a simple phrase like
“healthy runner dies of heart attack”, and a long series of news releases come
up carrying the same conclusion. Good looks on the outside are hiding a
dangerous, perhaps deadly, situation on the inside. The most famous such
occurrence may be that of Jim Fixx of The
Complete Book of Running fame. By the time of his death in 1984 due to a
heart attack, he was known worldwide as an exercise guru. Yet an unknown
problem related to an enlarged heart ended his career.
Fixx was 52. Others in the
list of articles were 47, 30, 58, etc. All were the picture of health. Then
reality hit.
In working with the 33
churches in my association, I wonder sometimes at what is happening beneath the
surface of the harmonious and organized activities of each of the
congregations. All too often I hear of a pastor leaving, or a group of families
starting to attend other churches, or a business meeting that left the church
divided in the midst of anger and hurt feelings.
Jesus said we need to be
honest with ourselves and each other, look beneath the surface of activities,
and evaluate the core motives and values that determine who we are (Matthew
23:25-28). A healthy church is much like a healthy individual. What you see on
the outside is what you have on the inside. A healthy heart offers a better
chance for a healthy exterior. A healthy core can make for a much stronger
body.
A healthy person will focus
on keeping both interior and exterior in good shape. Regular medical check-ups,
eat the right foods, get adequate rest, take time to exercise mind and body. A
healthy church will allow the Holy Spirit to be active within it, focus on the
spiritual training necessary, practice spiritual disciplines, and stretch its
activities out into the community around it.
Clogged arteries and
misshapen heart muscles do not provide the hope for a healthy life. A church
that focuses upon its membership, refuses to take the risk of reaching out to
others in missions and ministry, and sees its faithfulness measured in
preserving the traditions of men has a false idea of its health. Such a church
will find its useful life cut short and its spiritual influence in its
community limited or non-existent.
Good physical health involves
getting out of the overstuffed chair, away from the television, and out into
the world. Allowing only good stuff into our bodies gives us a better chance at
giving our best effort to others.
A healthy church will focus
upon honoring God in its planning, ministries, and use of the resources that
God has placed in its stewardship. A healthy church will nourish itself on the
best spiritual food, exercise its faith by moving forward to accomplish with
God what only God can do, and have as its goal bringing glory to God through
its own activities and the lifestyles of its members.
So exercise your faith, feed
on the Bread of Life and the Living Water, and rest in the arms of the Holy
Spirit. It makes for a healthy heart.
