Walking in the Valley A bi-weekly column, featuring one Christian's (a)musings on life's journey by Barbara Dahlgren

Doing Things "In the Name of Christ" Column for the weeks of November 1-15, 2007

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Last February, Bakersfield pediatrician Dr. Gary Merrill made the news when he refused to treat the daughter of Tasha Childress for an ear infection. He took one look at Tasha’s tattoos and showed her and her little girl the door. Dr. Merrill has high standards – all based on his Christian values and beliefs. He wants to create a “Christian” atmosphere for his patients. He turns parents away if they have tattoos, piercings or other items he feels go against his faith. (He also doesn’t allow gum chewing, but I don’t think that’s because of his Christianity). Merrill is in private practice, so the AMA stands behind his decision. He has the right to refuse service to whomever he chooses. The sad part is that he’s doing it “in the name of Christ.”

Christ’s standards seem to differ from the good doctor’s. In fact, Christ raised a few eyebrows when he spent time with tax collectors, lepers, down trodden, prostitutes, poor, weak, lowlife sinners (Luke 5:31-32). He went out of his way to heal and give hope to such people. I can’t picture him turning away any hurting child. Instead he said, “Let the little children come to me (Mark 10:14)” – not “Let only the little children with parents who meet with my high Christian standards come to me. The rest can take a hike.”

What people do “in the name of Christ” or what they do thinking they are following the teachings of Christ is quite remarkable. One of my dearest friends was a devout Catholic. After marriage she had four children (all boys) in four years because, as you know, Catholics do not believe in birth control. The doctor basically told her, “One more pregnancy could kill you.” The priest, thinking he knew what Christ wanted, basically said, “Too bad. You still can’t use birth control. It’s a sin.” She is now Lutheran.

Some churches rely totally on faith healing instead of going to doctors, feeling it is a sin to use the medical profession. Years ago we knew a loving family who treated their young son with herbs and refused to take him to the doctor. It was later found that he had appendicitis. A simple appendectomy would have saved his life. It was an agonizing tragedy for the parents to endure. Yet, they thought they were doing what Christ wanted them to do.

Dr. Merrill reminds me of a Biblical group who got very hung up on the minute details of keeping God’s laws. They added their own, private interpretations of what the law meant. Then they imposed their standards, not God’s, on everyone around them. They were called Pharisees.

Christ had much to say about the Pharisees - and none of it good. He told people to beware of the teachings of the Pharisees (Matthew 6:11-12). They bound heavy burdens on people and only did good deeds when others could see them, so they could get the glory instead of God (Matthew 23:2-9). He called them vipers and hypocrites (Matthew 3:7; 23:13, 23-24). They were self-righteous and prideful (Matthew 9:11; Luke 7:39; 18:11-12), which was further emphasized in the parable of the publican and the Pharisee (Luke 18:9-14). Jesus showed disdain for Pharisaical laws when he and the disciples went through the fields on the Sabbath, picked corn, and it (Mark 2:23-28). He openly rebuked the Pharisees (Matthew 12:39; 16:1-4) because adherence to traditions and how they were enforced had become more important to them than what God’s teachings actually meant (Matthew 15:2; Mark 7:5-8).

By New Testament times, these Pharisees were widely recognized as the religious leaders. Perhaps they meant well to begin with, but they became such extremists that they couldn’t recognize the Messiah when he was in their very presence.

If we aren’t careful, we can get bogged down the same way – getting caught up in the letter of the law instead of the spirit of what Christ came and died for. If you read the teachings of Christ, you know he looked on the heart, not the outward appearance. He loved people. He empathized with them. He felt their pain.

Those who want to do something “in the name of Christ” might lean more toward scriptures focusing on love, not being judgmental, going the extra mile, forgiveness, mercy, or grace. After all, aren’t these the things you think of when you hear Christ’s name?

Be sure to visit this page often to read the next edition of Walking in the Valley. You can write to the author at bdahlgren@wcgsouthbay.org.