Which Clinic Are We?
By John Hendrix
I had to finally admit that I was sick and needed help. I went to a crowded clinic. Everyone was sick there, some more than I, some less. Their sickness was plain to see: They had fevers and chills, they coughed and sneezed, many had bumps and sores that looked painful as well as disgusting.
I have to admit, I nearly left without getting help for myself. The sickness of the other people was, in some ways, less bearable—more disgusting—than my own. Did this clinic really have anything to offer me?
As I watched, I saw that this clinic was very different from any others I knew: Everyone was treating each other’s sicknesses while they got treatment for their own! They applied ointment and medicines to each other. They showed each other their red throats and their sweaty brows. They let each other listen to their lungs and hearts.
They helped each other. They were honest which each other. They loved each other.
So, when one came up to me, I not only told him about my fever—which is all I was going to admit to—but I also showed him the festering wound I kept hidden under my shirt sleeve. He looked at me with concern, not disgust. He helped me with my fever and my embarrassing infection.
I got much better.
Unfortunately, I decided that I didn’t need the clinic anymore. Sure enough—and soon enough—I was ill again.
I went to a different clinic that seemed like the first clinic, but the people there were a lot different. For one thing, they did not appear as sick as the people in the first clinic. They even occasionally made snide comments about the other clinic where “those really sick” people went.
I started thinking that perhaps this clinic was much better than the other one. Perhaps they knew something more; perhaps their medicines were better.
Eventually, however, I could see the truth. They didn’t have better medicines; they just had better cosmetics. They used makeup and veils to hide their illnesses. They muffled their coughs and pretended not to have them. They constantly wiped the sweat from their brows, but their fevers raged on unchecked.
They weren’t healthier than the people at the other clinic; they were just good at hiding their sickness. The people at the first clinic didn’t try to hide their sicknesses; they rather exposed them and treated them. The people at this clinic only hid their illnesses. They pretended to be nearly well, but they grew worse and died.
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Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3)
Strong’s Greek and Hebrew dictionary has this to say about word 4434, translated “poor” here:
ptochos, pto-khos'; from ptosso (to crouch; akin to Greek 4422 (ptoeo) and the alternate of Greek 4098 (pipto)); a beggar (as cringing), i.e. pauper (strictly denoting absolute or public mendicancy, although also used in a qualified or relative sense; whereas Greek 3993 (penes) properly means only straitened circumstances in private), literal (often as noun) or figurative (distressed) :- beggar (-ly), poor.
What do all of those words mean?
It means that Jesus is not just talking about someone who lacks spirituality; He was talking about someone who realized his need of spirituality and, like a beggar by the side of the road, holds out his trembling hand to God for the handout only He could give.
Those who understand their abject spiritual poverty—unlike those at Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-20)—are ready for the salvation that Jesus offers. They have the humility before God that leads to God’s exaltation (1 Peter 5:6). Jesus came to this world for the sick that knew they were sick, not the sick that pretended to be well (Matthew 9:11-13).
Does this mean that all Christians are spiritually “poor”?
Well, yes. They have nothing that was not given them (1 Corinthians 4:7). They live off the handouts of their Lord. Without God’s continuous care, they return to the spiritual gutter from which they came.
Why would Christians at a congregation pretend to be “nearly perfect” instead of in desperate need of continuous care? How could any Christian look down on anyone? (Luke 18:9ff)
Let us open our hearts to each other, seeking the healing we need.
Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. (James 5:16)
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Hebrews (10:23-27)