Biblically holistic health (III) Body, soul and spirit “trinity.”

As said earlier, that there were two statements that caught my attention when I googled “holistic health.” I discussed the first one earlier. This morning I want to start to discuss the second statement that holistic health is “based on the belief that unconditional love and support is the most powerful healer, and that a person is ultimately responsible for his or her own health and well-being.” Who could deny, that the giving and receiving of love has healing potential. And certainly, love needs to be unconditional, because conditional love is not really love it all, it’s more like control! But true love must be divorced from license (anything goes), because if we get love and truth out of balance, it too easily becomes enablement.

If someone we knew was about to drive a car down an icy road where, round a sharp bend, we knew the bridge was washed out, would it not be loving to warn them, even if they were excitedly looking forward to the trip? Would it not be hateful not to warn them? So yes unconditional love, but love that is armed with truth and wisdom. And this speaks to me that the interesting thing about love, is that it cannot be done in isolation, it is only done in community. If it is to be fully Biblically holistic, the community needs to be Christian community. I say this, because we need the ongoing input from God who is the source of both love and truth (1 John 4:8; John 14:6 - see also January 4th post).

I am not saying that a good balance of truth and love cannot be found outside the Christian community. Nor am I saying that Christian communities are always healthy. The health of any community is dependent on a number of things, not the least of which is the health of the leadership. And because churches are made up of people, they are all a mixture of truth and error, acceptance and rejection, health and dysfunction. Actually, it is the to the credit of a church, and part of unconditional love, that it would receive those who are not yet whole (that’s all of us). Indeed one of the purposes of the church, is to be a hospital for the sin sick!

Father, I am well aware that just as there are no perfect families, neither are there any perfect churches. But You have told us that we should not neglect coming together in Christian fellowship (Hebrews 10:25). I am also aware that many times brokenness comes through relationships, but so also does healing. And we will not be made whole in isolation! So I ask You this morning Lord that You would move us more and more into true Christian community, community that balances truth and grace, love and accountability, openness and vulnerability and unconditional love. Start with me Lord, in Jesus Name Amen