Feb. 9

I Corinthians 12

Excellence!

I prayed a very dangerous prayer recently. Then I went to the doctor. I really don’t like going to the doctor, for a large number of reasons. First, in order to see the doctor you have to make an appointment. I am never quite sure how the appointment process works, because in 54 years of going to doctors I have never seen the doctor at the appointed time. So when the appointment is scheduled for, let’s say 8:30 in the morning what does that mean, really? If I arrive at 8:30 I know it will be at least 8:45 before I see the doctor. But if wait until 8:45 before I arrive, will all the people scheduled between 8:30 and 8:45 be allowed to see him before I do?  Then it will be 9:00 or maybe even 9:30 before I see him. Unless of course everyone shows up 15 minutes after their appointed time, which means that we all see the doctor in the appointed order but he actually gets to start his day 15 minutes later. Maybe that is what this is all about. So the whole timing thing is a confusing start to my day. I can’t even imagine what it must be like by 4:00 pm. That is why it is always best to schedule appointments in the morning. After I arrive, whenever that might occur in the medical time line continuum, I sign in and am asked to proceed to the waiting room. The waiting room has to be one of the most intimidating places on earth. It is an environment filled with choices, coughing, crying, staring, wondering and of course, waiting. A myriad of choices have to be made in a few destiny determining seconds. Where do I sit? Everyone here is probably sick. I don’t want to sit next to someone with something I don’t want to catch. Who is here for a “check up’ and who is here with a life threatening viral contagion that may wipe out the planet? I have to choose. That is where the staring comes in. Everyone wants to know my reason for being here and where I will sit. And then I have to decide what magazine I will read. I have to read otherwise I begin to stare around the room and wonder about things like, should I say something to the person who is staring at me; did the name the nurse just call belong to someone who signed in after me; when are they going to call my name so I can escape this world of the unknown? And I know that everyone in the room is watching to see which magazine I select in order to determine what kind of person I might be. I normally go for the guy stuff like Sports Illustrated or Popular Mechanics. Occasionally I will opt for the political science stuff like World News Report, but that is tricky because I am not really interested in that kind of reading. I select those magazines in order to appear informed of what is happening in the world such as “What is the Latest World Wide Viral Contagion That May Wipe out the Planet.” This strategy usually backfires however because I normally end up falling asleep after a few minutes of  reading what I think will make me seem to be informed. There really is nothing worse than waking up to the sound of your name being called by a nurse for the fourth time realizing everyone in the room is staring at you as you wipe the drool from your chin. So I pick up the copy of World News Report that has fallen on the floor, place it back on the table and make my way towards freedom. That is when I remember another reason I don’t like going to the doctor. They have these really accurate scales on which the nurse asks me to stand fully clothed including coat, shoes and cell phone. I look at the number on the scale in front of me and I want to scream, “I don’t weigh that much!” I am not sure what medical good this information could provide unless the nurse has some formula for deducting the average weight of clothing, a coat, a pair of shoes and a cell phone. What is really disconcerting though is trying to remember if I was wearing my coat and shoes and cell phone that last time I was weighed. I could easily appear 20 pounds overweight or underweight; both, I think I just read, are symptoms of the latest viral contagion that could wipe out the planet.

Finally, I am shown the way to the exam room, asked to take a seat and wait for the doctor. As the exam room door closes I remember the main reason I don’t like going to the doctor. For the next several minutes I sit and wonder what the doctor will discover. Am I alright; healthy; or am I the carrier of the latest………well, you know? The main reason I don’t like going to the doctor is because I might find out what is wrong with me. I don’t like going to the doctor because I don’t want to know what is wrong with me, especially if I feel like there is nothing wrong with me. That was what was so difficult about discovering I had high blood pressure. I felt okay, but every time I saw a medical practitioner of some kind they would do the routine test and tell me I had high blood pressure. I didn’t want to believe it. I stayed in denial for a couple of years until I began having symptoms.

As the doctor walks in I start going into what is called “doctor’s office or white coat hypertension.” It causes even a healthy person’s blood pressure to rise at the thought that the doctor will discover that there is something wrong with them, which of course is validated by the “high” blood pressure reading which then causes what I call the “doctor’s office high blood pressure reading vicious cycle.” I think there is a placebo that can be prescribed for this condition. The good news regarding this visit is that, “doctor’s office hypertension” aside, the doctor give’s me a clean bill of health and renews my prescription for the placebo. As we exchange pleasantries at the end of my appointment, I turn to leave and I have a sense that I should invite him to attend a worship service at the church where I serve. I think I said something like, “Hey doc, why don’t you visit one of our church services and see where I work sometime?” I will never forget the stunned look on his face and the pause in his answer. He looked at me like I was the carrier of a viral contagion that could wipe out the planet and the hesitation in his answer spoke volumes. I could read between the lines and it suddenly occurred to me that he didn’t like going to church for all the same reasons that I don’t like going to the doctor’s office. All the unknowns. Not knowing how to navigate the unusual environment in the beginning; the strange people who might stare: the inconsistent scales; the waiting and wondering; but most of all the fear of discovering that there might be something wrong with him. I call it “infrequent church attendee hypertension.”  If you want to know how an infrequent church attendee feels when you invite them to church, just think about how it feels when you have to go to the doctor or to some other unfamiliar environment, such as a medical insurance meeting. After I went to the doctor’s office I needed to know how to pay his bill so I went to our company’s medical insurance policy meeting. After an hour of listening to all the people in the room who understand terms like predetermination qualification and supplemental co-insurance deductibles, I felt really confused and stupid. The same thought I had in the doctor’s office occurred to me again but in another way. That is how we must sound when we throw around all of our faith lingo to people who are not necessarily on the same faith journey as we. I have arrived at three conclusions from all these experiences.

1. The medical community, including insurance companies, can make people like me feel afraid and confused and stupid.

2. The church world is sometimes a lot like the medical community.

3. There has to be a better way.

That brings me back to my prayer. I had just finished reading I Corinthians 12 before I went to the doctor. I Corinthians 12 is a chapter that was written to clear up a lot of confusion and stupidity that was occurring in the church world at that time. At the end of the chapter there is a very important one-line phrase. In light of all that I have just written I have made that phrase a daily prayer for my life. It simply says, “And now I will show you the most excellent way!” I invite you to read I Corinthians 13 to discover what he means. And then I invite you to pray that prayer with me every day, “Lord please show me the most excellent way.” And then I invite you to begin showing your family and your friends and those with whom you work and your doctors and insurance people what you learn. Then when you invite them to church they won’t look at you like you are the carrier of some viral contagion that could wipe out the planet.

Just a thought

I would love to hear yours.  

Gotta go cure world hunger.

Blessings