Health and Wholeness

Overview

From the very beginning of creation, Health and Wholeness is the ultimate design of God for humanity. Though life often thwarts that design, the health we have is a good gift of God. When God created humankind, God declared it to be very good. (Genesis 1:31). Among Jesus' statements on the purpose of his presence is the statement that he came that we might have abundant life. (John 10:10).

Many of the accounts of Jesus' ministry document how Jesus saw restoration to health as a sign of the Kingdom of Heaven becoming present amongst us. When John the elder wrote to Gaius (3 John 1:2), he wished for him physical health no less than spiritual. The biblical narrative is filled with stories of God's healing presence in the world. This includes spiritual, psychological, emotional, social, as well as physical healing. Christ's desire that we experience abundant life reflects God's desire that we experience spiritual, physical, and mental wholeness and healing.

Christ's healing ministry to all persons, even to the marginalized, put into practice this desire of God and expanded God's promises to the entire world.

For John and Charles Wesley, health was integral to salvation. In the Wesleyan understanding of salvation, Christ's self-giving on the cross not only freed us from the guilt of sin, but restored us to the divine image in which we were created, which includes health. John Wesley not only preached spiritual health, but worked to restore physical health among the impoverished people who heard his call. He wrote Primitive Physick, a primer on health and medicine for those too poor to pay for a doctor. He encouraged his Methodists to support the healthcare needs of the poor. Charles Wesley's hymns reflect early Methodism's awareness of spiritual health as a component of salvation.

Health in its fullest and most complete sense is Wholeness. The Bible expresses this Wholeness with the word "Shalom," which encompasses every facet of health, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual, both of the individual and of the community.

Our advocacy focuses on achieving a global society of persons who have access to health and wholeness by emphasizing the Wesleyan understanding of social holiness extending to influence personal habits, public policy, and environmental and social factors that impact the Health and Wholeness of individuals and communities around the globe.

Issues

Social Principles

Newtorks