Health and the Kingdom
In the beginning, God’s creation of man and woman in His likeness was very good. They were flourishing! After they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, sin entered the world and everything changed. God sent his Son to earth in the form of human flesh to live the life Adam failed to live and pay the price for all sin — past, present, and future. God allowed sinners to be reconciled to Himself and sent His Spirit to dwell inside believers. In the new heavens and the new earth, God will once again walk with man in the full expression of His glory. We will be perfectly, holistically healthy beings as the new heavens and the new earth will be even better than Eden. This reality will last forever.
Right now we are living in between these realities. Christ has come and is already in the process of making all things new. Redemption is available in this life today! However, we still await the full expression of this new state of being that God has promised to His people. It is in this tension — the already, but not yet — that I believe we need to enter into the conversation of strengthening personal health. The goal of bolstering personal health is not necessarily self-care in itself so that we spend our time on earth trying to create a space of perfect well-being. That space is intended for heaven, and God is its creator. However, we cannot neglect tending to our personal health in such a way that ministry leads to the destruction of our earthly bodies. God has created our bodies to be temples in which the Holy Spirit dwells (1 Cor. 6:19), and He cares about how we treat them physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
Having recognized the two ends of the spectrum, a good question to ask ourselves is: “What is my motivation in seeking to strengthen my personal health? What am I trying to gain?” While this may take some time to prayerfully process, we need to understand our motivation.
Often, I simply want heaven on earth. I am convinced that if I am thriving in all areas of my life, I could then find true satisfaction and fulfillment. So I toil to this end and find myself unable to achieve the level of success I believe I need. I am worshipping an idol, and it fails me every time. In this life, God might not choose to heal all my physical diseases. He might allow seasons of deep sadness, and walking with Him intimately might be really challenging in the days ahead.
However, I believe there is a more biblical motivation that calls us to value strengthening our personal health while also continuing to give our lives away. In 2 Corinthians 4:11, Paul writes: “For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” The call to nurture our personal health is present. The phrase, “we who live” signifies that we must be alive. Over the last few years on staff, I have found that I must continue to sow to my walk with God by valuing His gifts that are life-giving. Consistent exercise, investing in close friendships (even if those friends live far away), using my vacation time to not only visit family but also to go on fun trips, and setting healthy boundaries in off time have refueled and refreshed me so that I would have more of myself to give away for the Kingdom. The lost world needs me to think well for myself so that I may be a better servant. Processing my story has also proved to be vital in molding and encouraging my spirit. It has led me to be more empathetic, slower to speak, quicker to listen, and more ready to grieve alongside my friends. The lost world needs us to understand our own hearts so that we may love others better!
In this passage, the call to give our lives away is equally present — we are those who are always being given over to death. We are afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down (2 Cor. 4:8-12). We spend long nights on campus. We often are misunderstood by our extended families. Few friends relate to our lifestyles. Year by year we continue to raise support.
But why? So that the lost world might see Jesus in the way we live our lives on earth as His beloved. What a high calling! What is a key motivation of our pursuit of strengthening personal health? Being alive so that we might give more of ourselves away. How can we make sure we have life to give away? We can do so by valuing and sowing to our physical, emotional, and spiritual flourishing for the rest of our lives. We hold both tensions while also longing for the day when all things are made new, when our bodies will be holistically healthy forever.