Consider Spiritual Causes for Medical Problems

Christian physicians routinely bypass obvious ungodly behavior which has possible adverse health consequences in their patients -- a quick temper, unforgiven sin, unconfessed guilt, etc. We don't even think of these as health issues, or, we put them aside as “not in our field.” After all, we weren't called to preach. I have kept problem lists on my patients for years, diligently noting down Congestive Heart Failure and such. Never have I entered "Quarrelsomeness" on one, despite the fact that I have treated many patients whose quarrelsomeness earned them injury.

There are practical reasons for not writing "spiritual" problems in the medical record. The record exists partly to communicate with other physicians, and some would not understand. There is no code, for instance, for "gossip" in the International Classification of Health Problems in Primary Care (ICHPPC). Insurers would refuse to honor their contracts with patients who submitted a claim with such a "diagnosis" on it, not to mention that patients wouldn't take kindly to it. We can excuse ourselves for not writing it, but we have a serious problem if, as Bible-believing Christians, we can't even think of it as a health maintenance issue, or that it is remediable.

As for not being called to preach, check yourself out, if you are a physician. Chances are you have a spiel on some practice that damages health -- obesity, smoking, failure to use seat belts, etc. It is not our reluctance to preach that holds us back but our habit of sticking to the material aspects of the world for our subject matter. This insistence on addressing only physical issues has been inculcated in us by the humanist worldview. In a biblical worldview the material aspects of our being are important but not ascendant over the spiritual aspects. We are commanded by Jesus to disciple others. He has not exempted our medical practices, and we should not allow our unconscious adoption of a humanist value to prohibit us from wise use of opportunities to make a spiritual connection for our patients to consider.


Excerpt from "How Would God Have Us Practice Preventive Medicine?"