Public Policy of the Church
The Christian Medical Fellowship is a fellowship of Christian doctors. Our aims say that we are committed to living and speaking for Christ in our practice of medicine.
The great public policy of the Lord Jesus was to make himself known to all people as the incarnate God who entered this world to save people and to give his followers eternal life. This public policy he has passed on to his church. He said,
“All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:18-20
Peter understood that this was the prime public policy of the church.
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to god, that you may declare the wonders of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9
Through the centuries there has always been a tendency for churches and Christian groups to move away from the church’s core message. This is about who Jesus is, the purpose of his coming and the response he expects from all people. He came to die for our sins so that we might have a hope of entering God’s eternal kingdom. The sharing of this message must remain the prime public policy of Christians and therefore of the Christian Medical Fellowship as a Christian organisation. As Christians we glory in Christ.
A lady brought a group of young people from a liberal Anglican church to a joint youth service being held in our church. I went up to welcome her. I was taken aback when almost the first thing she said was,
“The trouble with your church is that you talk too much about Jesus!”
How should this be answered? I showed her the opening ten verses of 1 Corinthians, a letter written to a church that was losing its way. Their public policy was not focussed on glorifying the Lord Jesus in the world. So he starts by emphasising the Lord Jesus Christ in every sentence. Their priorities were clearly wrong. There were different factions in the church but Paul brings them back to the unifying priority of the church –the proclamation of the glory of Christ.
“For Christ did not send me to baptise but to preach the gospel.” 1 Corinthians 1:17
We could have looked at the letters to the Ephesians, Colossians or indeed any New Testament book. They are all about Christ, Christ, Christ. A Christian’s life must centre on Christ.
It is true that not all Christians are called to be public evangelists but every Christian should have the priority of sharing the message about Jesus with others. It may simply be done by inviting people to hear the gospel explained in church or giving out Christian books but no-one is exempt from praying regularly for opportunities to share the gospel and to do that effectively. In this regard all Christians are to be mini-apostles. Paul included in his letter to the Corinthians the following,
“For I am not seeking my own good, but the good of many that they may be saved. Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 10:33 – 11:1
Advancement of the gospel about Jesus Christ, in one way or another, is the prime public policy of all Christians. This is God’s intention for us, however hard we may find it. When Paul became a Christian he became a servant of the gospel and he wants us all to understand this link.
“I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery . . . ” Ephesians 3:7-9
Some may reply that Paul was a very special person and that this priority does not apply to ordinary Christians. Paul would not accept such thinking. He goes on to make it clear that sharing the message about Jesus is what God’s wants his church to achieve.
“His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Ephesians 3:10-11
What a tragedy it is to hear Christians in senior roles excuse themselves from or even ridicule the priority of evangelism. All Christians have been chosen by God to both glory in Christ and to glorify Christ by passing his message on to others - so that they may be saved. Professor David Short of Aberdeen was the Queens Physician in Scotland. He was very eminent and highly regarded. One day he overheard some people talking about him: they were saying what a great person he was in so many areas. But he noticed that they did not mention his being a Christian. He then realised that much of what he had done in medicine had been for his glory and not for the glory of the Lord Jesus. We have been chosen to be Christians in order that we might glorify Christ and nothing less.
One of the common arguments for leaving Christ out of our conversations and broadcasts is that we may lose friends or influence. We might not be invited back. The devil loves such arguments. So many have drifted from Christ because of such thinking. An eminent London surgeon with a massive private practice was on the Board of Reference of the CMF. Yet at one stage of his life he was too busy to be involved in a local church saying,
“My medicine is my Christianity now.”
What a comedown. For others the good causes that we work so hard for, high standards in the practice of medicine or ethical concerns can become our priority. Speaking and living for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and aiming to promote him in all we do, can so easily be squeezed out of our thinking.
Today there are people, including some Christians, who think that the answers to the world’s deepest problems lie with politics or technology or social advances. Sir Richard Gregory was at one time Editor of the scientific magazine Nature. He wrote his own epitaph:
'My grandfather preached the gospel of Christ
My father preached the gospel of socialism
I preach the gospel of science.'
What a comedown! It is not that social issues or high standards of medicine are wrong, it is just that they are not the equivalent of the gospel that God has called his people to proclaim. Jesus says He is the answer to man’s greatest need and that we, his people, have been commissioned as His ambassadors. All of us will be perceived as proclaiming some message. It may be myself and my virtues, it may be a good cause I promote, it may be my high standards in medicine or it may be Christ. If we are apostolic Christians, as we profess to live by the historic creeds of the church, then we must hold to apostolic doctrines, apostolic priorities and act with apostolic fire. If Christian doctors are not clear on all three apostolic features there is a risk of the fire going out. A patient of mine was churchwarden of her local village church. After the medical issues had been dealt with I asked her how the church was going.
“It is getting difficult. We are getting smaller and older.”
“Oh dear,” I replied, “Tell me, do people in the church talk about the Lord Jesus to others in the village?
“Goodness gracious me, no. We don’t even talk about him amongst ourselves.”
That church did not have apostolic priorities. Such people are clearly not living to glorify the Lord Jesus in their society. How much do we talk about the Lord Jesus?
To live for Christ will inevitably result in opposition – it always has.
Victoria Wasteney, 37, a senior occupational health therapist, was suspended by the NHS for nine months. A colleague in the department had health problems, was afraid of dying and had personal issues at home. Victoria is a Christian and the friend she was trying to help is a Muslim. Over the months they had had many friendly discussions about Islam and Christianity. Victoria had leant her the classic book ‘I dared to call him Father’ which is about a senior Muslim lady in Pakistan who started to read the Bible and had come to know the Jesus that the Qur’an speaks so much about. At one stage, Victoria asked if she could pray for her. She said simply,
“God, I trust you will bring peace and you will bring healing.”
Victoria claims that her Muslim friend was later put under pressure to make a formal complaint. Her employer deemed her actions to be harassment and bullying. An Employment Tribunal is now assessing whether such holistic care is unacceptable. There will be another judgment in heaven when the evidence of Jesus and his apostles will surely win the case. There is so much in the Bible that insists that God’s people must lovingly speak out to those around about the claims of the Lord Jesus.
When Paul was in Corinth testifying that ‘Jesus was the Christ’, some Jews opposed Paul and became abusive. Paul had a vision in which the Lord spoke to him,
“Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you . . .” Acts 18:9
Later Paul wrote to the Corinthians,
“It is written: ‘I believed and therefore I have spoken’. With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak. . . Therefore we do not lose heart. . . For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” 2 Corinthians 4:13-17
He continues,
“Since we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. . . . He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. . . We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” 2 Corinthians 5:11-20
At the end of his letter to the Ephesians, all Christians are told to put on the armour of God. This includes having:
“. . . your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. . . “
He then associates himself with the Ephesian Christians,
“Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I may fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly as I should.” Ephesians 6:15-20
Advancing the gospel about the Lord Jesus is what we have been called to do – even doctors and health workers. It may be costly. Paul, when imprisoned for his gospel work, wrote to the Philippians saying,
“Now I want you to know that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.” Philippians 1:12-14
When Jesus called a man to follow him the excuse came back,
“Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:60
The first word in the title of our fellowship gives us our priority. We are Christians – Christ’s men and women. This means that we live for the Lord Jesus; his priorities become ours, his message is our message. The gospel is a message about how people can be rescued from the penalty of being in rebellion against God. The gospel is great news about what God has done in Christ. It is not about a way of life or even a code of practice. All too often this is just what many churches, Christian organisations and even Christians are perceived as representing.
In the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) the word used for proclaiming this good news is euangelizo. It comes twenty three times. The word is usually used to declare the news about something that has happened to deliver people from a real danger. Thus in Psalm 40:9 we read,
“I have told the glad news of [your] deliverance in the great congregation”
In the New Testament the same word group based on euangelion (good news) occurs at least 133 times. Don Carson makes this conclusion from a study of these words:
“Because the gospel is news, good news . . . it is to be announced; that is what one does with news. The essential heraldic element in preaching is bound up with the fact that the core message is not a code of ethics to be debated, still less a list of aphorisms to be admired and pondered, and certainly not a systematic theology to be outlined and schematized. Though it properly grounds ethics, aphorisms, and systematic, it is none of these three: it is news, good news, and therefore must be publicly announced.”
Far too many Christian organisations begin with this intention yet because of pressures and lack of conviction drift away from any emphasis on the gospel and the centrality of the Lord Jesus. Christian Aid has slipped in this regard. It now describes its public policy in these terms:
“Christian Aid is a Christian organisation that insists the world can and must be swiftly changed to one where everyone can live a full life, free from poverty.
We work globally for profound change that eradicates the causes of poverty, striving to achieve equality, dignity and freedom for all, regardless of faith or nationality. We are part of a wider movement for social justice.”
They have therefore altered what the word ‘Christian’ means. It is not what they are doing is wrong, but what they represent is now no longer the message about the Lord Jesus.
The meaning of medical missions has changed in recent years. Originally motivated Christian doctors and nurses went out to underdeveloped countries to both show the love of God through the practice of good medicine and with the clear aim of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ to local people so that they may be saved by becoming his followers. The pressures of time, tiredness, lack of resources and lack of Biblical thinking has resulted in many, but fortunately not all, losing their focus on living for Christ. Even the phrase, ‘Medical Mission’ has changed its meaning from being a mission for Christ to just being there to give good medical care.
The hospice movement began with Christian ideals. To often now it just has Christian ethical standards but no eternal good news. People with terminal illnesses are soon to face their maker in judgment. This is clearly what Jesus and his apostles teach us. The Scriptures also teach us that there is ‘no other name given amongst men by which we must be saved’. Supporting patients ‘own spirituality’ will not save them for eternity. Many will oppose such narrow doctrines but this is the message the church must share.
High standards of medical education come from a Christian worldview but in practice it is all too easy for the ambition for good teaching in medicine to overcome the public policy of the church and the centrality of Christ is lost.
Ethical ideals, however laudable, can appear to be our prime purpose, even if formal statements remain gospel focussed. How can we ensure that the Christian Medical Fellowship remains a gospel focussed organisation in practice? Surely it is by ensuring that all we do is clearly done in the name of and because of the Lord Jesus. Too many doctors have taken their eyes off living for Jesus and glory in their good practice and the good causes they support. By doing this they are in danger of losing their ‘first love’, that for the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus recognised this risk when he addressed the church at Ephesus. They were ethical, they could not ‘tolerate wicked men.’ They were doctrinally sound, ‘You have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not’. They were determined and hard working, ‘You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name and have not grown weary.’
“Yet I hold this against you: you have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.” Revelation 2:2-5
Living for Christ and so glorifying and honouring him was no longer their prime purpose. What a disaster. Our prime public policy in CMF must remain to win people for Christ and to encourage us all to keep living Christ-like lives for the rest of our lives. It is good to stand up courageously for Christian ethical standards as this is how God wants his creation to live. The danger comes when we are perceived as being more interested in an ethical position than in honouring the Lord Jesus. As an organisation our aims are clear but I fear that this is not how we are perceived by many.
The issue is clear. We are here to present Christ as the answer to the world’s needs and to each individual’s needs. The question is not ‘should we?’ but ‘how should we?’ Clearly we would not advance our Saviours cause if all we do is talk about him all the time and do not demonstrate by our lives and genuine love that he really means much to us. Where there is the concern to glory in Christ (that is to be Christ-centred in my thinking) ,wherever we are and in whatever we do, the result will inevitably be to glorify Christ.
Paul’s directive to the Colossian church is relevant to us in these difficult times,
“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to the Father through him” Colossians 3:17
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. Colossians 3:23
“It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:24
