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Only the Sick Need a Doctor
  • Formation
  • Theology
  • Wellness
Cara Aspesi

“Mom, do you like Buc-ee’s?”

We were driving to school and this rather random question came from my 10-year-old son, who was otherwise staring out the window.

I paused. “Gosh, Cyrus, that really depends” I said, thinking over my Buc-ee’s experiences. “Do you remember when Papa Tony said we were going out for lunch, and we started driving…and driving, and we KEPT driving, until we had driven nearly an hour? I was so excited. I thought for sure we were headed for someplace special! But then, we turned into a Buc-ee’s!”

“I do remember that!” Cyrus laughed.

“Yeah, and then all we did was go inside, grab barbecue sandwiches, and eat them in the parking lot. I was not too happy about it.”

“Yeah, I remember that, too. You were grumpy.” He smiled.

“Haha, true. But then, last week, when we had to drive to drop off those flyers, remember everyone was starving and cranky after church? And there was nothing around? But then we saw a Buc-ee’s!”

“Yes, and we pulled in and got barbecue sandwiches and ate them in the parking lot!” Cyrus recalled.

“Yes, and everyone was happy, including me! So…do I like Buc-ee’s?” I asked, looking in the rearview mirror.

Cyrus forehead crinkled. “Maybe? I’m not sure.”

“Let’s think about it this way. Remember when Jesus said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick’? What does that mean, do you think?

“People who feel fine don’t want to go to the doctor.”

“Exactly. In fact, people who feel fine are usually annoyed by doctor visits. But a sick person, especially a really sick person, they want the doctor more than anything!”

“Yes, that's how it is."

“And Cyrus, how do sick people feel about the doctor who is able to relieve their terrible suffering?”

“Probably they are really grateful to him!”

“That’s right, Cyrus. They wanted the doctor when they were sick, and then, when the doctor heals them, they are filled with gratitude and might even especially love the doctor. And a third thing: When they are healed, they even learn something! What do they learn?”

“Well, maybe that the doctor could heal them?” he ventured.

“That’s it! They didn’t know this about the doctor before, not really. Now, Cyrus, are there any humans that have, apart from God, escaped spiritual sickness?”

He thought for a moment. “No, I don’t think so.”

“That’s right. As St. Paul wrote, ‘None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.’ So, when Jesus said ‘Only the sick need a doctor; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners’, he is not saying that only some people are spiritually sick. He’s saying that our response to his call to come and be healed—our desire for God—depends on whether or not we see that we are sick.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.”

“Good. So, it’s like this: Just as I was only grateful for Buc-ee’s when I was hungry and saw that I needed Buc-ee’s, so also the strength of our desire for God directly depends on rightly understand ourselves, on seeing that we are spiritually sick. And Cyrus, this also means that only the person who comes to Christ to be healed can truly begin to understand God, his mercy and love toward us as shown on the Cross. This is why it is so important to daily remember our need for God: If we begin to think we are not sick, not only will we not desire God, we also won’t even begin to understand Him. And that, Cyrus, is a terrible loss, for nothing is better than God, and nothing is more beautiful than the face of Jesus.”

Educators, call your students to grow. Help them to do so. But do so speaking those truths, and modeling that humility, and expressing that joy in your salvation, which all point to the Cross. Otherwise, we risk leaving our students with all the gifts but those that matter most: eyes that discern ever more the glory of God in the face of Christ, hearts bound tightly to the Savior in deep and lasting gratitude for his healing, and hands ready to serve out of the abundance of the sustaining love of God poured out into their hearts.