Cancer in the Church

Cancer is a unique disease. Apparently cancer cells are always present in the body. But then something happens that no one seems to be able to explain. Either the cells themselves are triggered, causing them to run amok, or the body’s natural defences are weakened to the point that they can no longer deal with them efficiently. Either way, the abnormal cells begin to overtake the healthy cells, and the results can be catastrophic.

I have heard that the reason cancer is so difficult to treat is because it is the body’s own defences that have become hostile. Generally when there is disease, medicines are used that will amp up the immune system in an attempt to coax the body into healing itself. Once the foreign material is identified, the body can deal with it. But in the case of cancer, the immune system loses the ability to differentiate between friend and foe. The body begins to attack itself.

I have been pondering the issue of division in the church, and cancer seems an appropriate analogy. It is a deep and difficult disease to cure, the people of God hurting one another. Perhaps it is due to protectionism, perhaps mere misunderstanding. I think that there must be at the heart of the matter an unwillingness to be wronged. And a willingness to be wronged is an essential part, I think, of living out the Christian life.

If we believe that Christ is in control, giving up one’s right to be right is not so difficult. (And just as often we are not right anyway.) Really, we have no rights. We invent them to cushion ourselves against what we perceive to be unjust. But there are many, many people in the world living without any rights at all. And those who have followed Christ throughout history willingly laid down their rights. Their defence was never for themselves, but for Christ, and they accepted (even rejoiced) in the loss of their own rights and freedoms for the sake of following Him.

Perhaps disunity, this cancer in the church, is always present to some extent. And perhaps it flares up occasionally due to a general unhealth in the body or perhaps it is triggered by some unknown force. Either way, when the body is unable to deal with it efficiently, the results can be catastrophic.

So, should we treat division in the church as doctors treat cancer? As a friend of mine recently put it, the cut, poison and burn methods? Do we cut out the bad bits, and poison and radiate the rest of the body as severely as we can without killing it in an attempt to eliminate all trace of whatever started the problem?

There has to be a better way.