The Big C in Church by Father Ed Morgan
October 7, 2009
Skin cancer is an interesting condition. It starts out as a little spot on the skin, sometimes noticed and many times seen but disregarded. All skin cancers are blemishes on what God created as good. Some types of skin cancer advance quickly, with ugly bumps and bleeding. Other types appear as dry patches of skin. Some go unnoticed as bumps with maybe a dry-scale surface, and some are just white spots against the background of healthy skin. Whatever form skin cancer takes, it must be treated to keep from growing into something that is life threatening. Doctors use many treatment methods, from freezing with nitrogen to cutting out the cancer until healthy skin shows around the spot where the disease appeared.
What has that got to do with the church?
The church gets cancers in its congregations, and the cancers need to be treated for the health of the whole organism, the body. What do these cancers look like? I’m so glad you asked. There is the cancer of I can worship God from St. Mattress or the golf course or I’m tired and don’t feel like going or I don’t know anybody there or The priests keep talking about God and what He wants—they even talk about sin!
This is the cancer of apathy and needs to be treated with activity—not just any activity, but godly activity. Go to the service you normally don’t go to; attend Sunday School; read the Bible; go to Koinania; become an intercessory prayer warrior. This cancer kills through isolation and division. The enemy knows he can gain ground if he can convince you to isolate yourself from the Body of Christ. The enemy is afraid that if the surface of apathy gets scraped away, healthy skin is waiting to regrow—renewed as never before.
We have another cancer that tends to run wild in churches, and that is the cancer of gossip. There are two treatments for gossip cancer. The first is used when the cancer is new and can be excised with confrontation and correction. This is the preferred treatment and the one that yields the most beneficial recovery. When those infected with gossip are brought to the light of the Gospel, they are quick to repent and seek forgiveness. This is a dangerous cancer, but if caught at the early stages, treatment often results in stronger and healthier Christians.
When the gossip cancer reaches the second stage, the treatment is more drastic. At this stage the gossip is excised from the congregation until full repentance occurs. This is a painful treatment, not only for the gossip, but also for those around him or her. I would like to say the recovery rate is very high, but the truth is the recovery rate is very low as the gossip cancer develops a condition called pride, which prevents recovery.
Some church cancers can be stopped with prayers and deliverance. We see these cancers when illness has occurred, upsets happen due to a job situation, relationship problem develop, attitudes change, or outside events are forced upon the individual over which they have no control. In these situations, soaking prayers, fasting prayers, intercession by other godly people in prayer on the person’s behalf are the strongest and most effective treatments. Sometimes the treatments can take a long period of time to work, but persistence is essential.
When the cancer begins to weaken but won’t give in to treatment, sometimes deliverance is needed. Deliverance calls upon the cancer to make itself known and to subject itself to Christ. This is where we call upon the heavenly hosts to intervene and cast out the cancer that is trying to rule our life. It is only by the blood of Christ that the enemy yields and the Holy Spirit fills the whole with health and the Glory of God.
If the cancer of wrong doctrine and wrong teaching shows up, the treatment is to quickly remove it with the sharp knife of the Word of God, excising immediately the wrong teaching. This cancer is not always seen with the casual eye as it looks almost healthy when presenting itself. This can be prevented by reading the Word of God daily and by instruction through attendance at worship, study, prayer, and praise. This cancer can be cured if caught early and not ignored!!
I have illustrated disease attacking the Body of Christ in the modern church. If you ever find yourself wondering why Fr. Chip and/or Fr. Ed stand so strong about something that doesn’t seem like a big deal, understand we are dealing with the various cancers that are found in the Body of Believers. We want nothing but the health of Christ for everyone at All Saints.We are called by the Word of God to attack these things that would destroy. We fervently want each and every one to bask in the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and to live happy and joyously free, which can only be done if we work diligently at being in the Word. We are not nit-pickers. We are committed and will call cancer by its name and work hard to erase it in the Body of Christ. Thanks be to God!
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