At the recent meeting of our CHM National Advisory Board our long-time friend Tommy Tyson came up with what we believe is an inspired statement about the vision for our ministry. I do not have a word-for-word record of what Tommy said, so the following is a paraphrase reconstructed from my notes at that notable meeting (Feb. 1-3).
“I see in this ministry a wonderful reflection of Jesus’· Incarnation, which is, as I see it, an amazing marriage of opposites: in Jesus we find the remarkable wedding of God’s divine nature with our humanity. And that is what I see represented in the ministry of Christian Healing Ministries:
“- Here I see a marriage of heart and mind. In ordinary life, people with keen minds often end up with empty souls – with no heart, no emotions. But here I see Christians joining the full use of their educated minds with compassionate hearts. And in their healing ministry I see God’s tremendous power coming to people but presented in a gentle way (with a soft-sell approach).
“- Here I see a marvelous marriage of fruits and gifts. So often the churches choose sides on this. Over here you have Christians who emphasize “I am the vine and you are the branches” – Christians who emphasize liturgy and slow growth and discipline. On the other side you have the churches based on Acts, who concentrate on signs and wonders – with hootin’ and hollerin’ – who look askance at the slow, educated approach. But here we have Christians who emphasize signs and wonders combined with the fruits of love, JOY, peace, gentleness and self-discipline.
“- Here I see a marriage between miracle and process. I see instant miracles, demonstrating God ‘s supernatural power; but I also see an emphasis on “soaking prayer” and gradual healings, coming after hours spent praying with those sick who are not instantly healed.
“- Here, too, I see a marriage between the King and the Kingdom. Some Christians emphasize conversion to the King (Jesus), but don’t really get involved with the controversial affairs of the Kingdom – issues like global peace; poverty and homelessness; justice in the Third world; abortion; and healing the environment. On the other hand, many Christians who work for social justice speak little about a personal relationship with Jesus. But here I find Christians who center their lives on a personal relationship with Jesus, the King; yet they also run the risk of being attacked for taking a stand on those issues of justice that put the Kingdom in conflict with the customs of our society.
“- At CHM, then, we have a marriage of what seem to be opposites, but, in reality, are the fullness of Jesus’ incarnation, the sign of contradiction – the scandalous marriage of God’s divinity with our wounded humanity.”
