Countryside Community Church - Joy Luke Club

This weekend at Countryside we’ll be looking at Luke 8, a chapter that in which Jesus heals three different people: a “demon-possessed” man (probably schizophrenic), a woman who had been hemorrhaging for twelve years, and even a girl thought to be dead.  As Marcus Borg has observed, there are so many stories of Jesus healing people in the gospels that it is hard for even the most skeptical of scholars to deny that healing was an authentic aspect of Jesus’ life and ministry, even if we don’t understand how he did it or doubt the historicity of one or more particular stories.

I believe Jesus healed people.  And while I cannot claim to know how Jesus did it, or that each and every story of healing is historically accurate, I have seen enough examples of healing within the ongoing community of Christ to believe that there are certain times when we actually stumble onto and engage the very same spiritual powers that Jesus himself engaged when healing people.

Not everyone will agree with me in this regard.  However, I believe we can all agree that the Founder of our faith would affirm the practice of healing, including those practices that utilize the tools of modern science more than prayer or healing touch.  As Jesus observed, “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers” (Luke 6:42-43).  The medical community has certainly offered humanity much “good fruit” in the last century.  While not all medical advancements may be universally acceptable or praiseworthy, there are precious few of us who yearn to return to the state of medical knowledge that existed even in our own parents’ and grandparents’ lifetimes.  While the medical arts, particularly as practiced in the West, seem far removed from the techniques used by Jesus, the fruits of these arts indicate that they spring from a “good tree.”

It is therefore saddening when certain members of the medical community – typically those engaged on the cutting edge of research – are maligned by certain people, acting in the name of Jesus, who view their work as antithetical to that of Jesus.  I’m thinking particularly of those medical researchers currently involved in embryonic stem cell research, using embryos that would never have resulted in the birth of a child.  Regardless of one’s view of abortion, it stretches the boundaries of both logic and imagination to consider it immoral to use such embryos in research that holds so much promise for curing diseases like diabetes, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Multiple-Sclerosis (In Nebraska alone, approximately 130,000 people suffer from these horrible diseases).

Currently, opponents of embryonic stem cell research are urging the University of Nebraska Board of Regents to restrict approved research at the University.  I find it incredible that the majority of these opponents are acting according to what they conceive to be Christian convictions.  While I have no doubt that many, if not most, of these Christians are good people who are honestly seeking to put their faith into practice, I have strong misgivings about the theological basis upon which they base their opposition.

To this end, I have written an Open Letter to the University of Nebraska Board of Regents, which I am sharing with you below.  If you find that this letter resonates with you, I encourage you to send your opinion to the Board yourself by using the simple interface found at www.nebraskacures.com.  Feel free to cite this letter if you like.  And whether you agree or disagree, I encourage you to post your comments on this blog.  And if you wrestle with this issue and seek to engage in personal conversation about it, I invite you to contact me at the church. I would be happy to listen to, and converse with, any member who disagrees.

An Open Letter to the University of Nebraska Board of Regents

Dear Regents,

I am the Senior Pastor of Countryside Community Church (UCC), a 1,700 member congregation at 87th and Pacific in Omaha, of which over 200 members are part of the medical community.  I am writing in support of continued embryonic stem cell research in accordance with federal and state law and ethical guidelines established by the National Institutes of Health.

While I cannot claim to represent the views of each and every member of my congregation, I can claim with high certainty that each of our members’ lives have been impacted by the diseases of diabetes, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and/or Multiple Sclerosis, either through personal experience or through relationship with a friend or loved one who suffers from one or more of these diseases.

As a congregation that stands in the historically moderate and liberal theological traditions dating back to the pilgrims, we do not join the vocal minority of our Christian sisters and brothers who feel threatened by advancements in science.  Rather, we embrace all advancements that enable us to better understand the Universe in which we exist (Jesus said, “The Truth shall set you free”-  John 8:32) or relieve the scourge of human suffering (Jesus said, “Whatsoever you have done to the least of these you have done to me” – Matthew 25:40).

Jesus, the founder of Christian faith, was a healer.  While he was not a healer only, the fact that healing was an important part of his ministry carries important implications for those who claim to follow him.  Jesus’ choice to heal people signals that concern for our physical bodies does not run contrary to spiritual concerns, but rather is organically related to our spiritual life.

It is also significant that Jesus himself observed with respect to followers who would come after him, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these …” (John 14:12).

Stem cell research carries with it the hope of curing the very diseases that afflict members of my congregation, their friends, and their relatives.  Indeed, they afflict the lives of over 130,000 people in Nebraska alone.  These are diseases that Jesus himself would have chosen to cure.

Therefore it is as deeply ironic as it is troubling that a vocal minority, claiming to be acting in the name of Jesus, are trying to block important stem cell research, and along with it, our hope for curing these debilitating and fatal diseases.

There are those who claim that manipulating embryonic stem cells is akin to “playing God.”  Yet, I would ask any Christian who seeks to block stem cell research on these grounds how we can neglect our responsibility to “play God” in this way when Jesus, the Great Healer, commanded us to “Go and do likewise …” with respect to attending to our ailing neighbor (Luke 10:12)?

For a decade, it has been the policy of the University of Nebraska Medical Center to have its scientists and doctors conduct this vital research in accordance with federal and state law and the ethical guidelines established by the National Institutes of Health.

The abandonment of this long-standing policy currently being debated by the Board of Regents would prohibit scientists from pursuing some of the most promising avenues of stem cell research.  While certain Christians find all forms of stem cell research to be intrinsically problematic to their faith,  there are a great many of us who not only affirm such research when it is applied to curing diseases, but find it to be a continuation of the great work that Jesus himself practiced and encouraged of his followers.

I strongly urge you to vote to maintain the current policy and allow this potentially lifesaving research to continue.