A FEELING of urgency combined with a heart-warming appeal as the servant of God revealed to the Adventist Church in the year 1904 that an "intimate relationship should ever exist be tween the medical missionary work and the gospel ministry. They are bound together in sacred union . . . and are never to be divorced." —Counsels on Health, p. 528. It is certainly true that most of us have grown up and worked in the church under conditions similar to those of a divided home. We never knew that a sacred, indissoluble union should exist between the medical and ministerial work and workers. The divorce took place before the majority of us were born.
In personal retrospect the year 1904 challenges memories of startling events affecting our work in my youthful days. That year marked the sixtieth anniversary in the history of Adventism, and with it the attainment of a worldly membership of approximately 75,000 believers. My parents embarked on the moving stream of church fellowship in the year 1888. The "first love" was the motivating spirit through those early years; and, being a physician, my father left the impress of a devoted medical missionary on the heart of a growing family when he died in the year 1907.
I cherish the memory of a table in his front office dedicated to missionary purposes. It contained a fine array of our literature for patients to read while waiting for his ministry, and also for gratuitous distribution as occasion offered. In his medical practice he was always on the alert to present the Great Physician as the only one who can make men whole. His example and indoctrination during my precollege days was my first introduction to the Spirit of Prophecy counsel that "the union of Christlike work for the body and Christlike work for the soul is the true interpretation of the gospel." —Evangelism, p. 514. (Italics supplied.)
Upon the completion of my college course in the year 1914 and my immediate dedication to the ministry, my study of the writings of Ellen G. White prompted a desire to learn more about the factors involved in the apparent separation that existed between our medical missionary workers and the gospel ministry as envisioned for us. It seemed quite providential that at the turn of the century, when the world scene was gathering portentous momentum, Adventists should adopt seriously Heaven's plan to present the whole gospel to the whole world.
The major importance of successful health evangelism in the bosom of Adventism is attested to in the fact that the Spirit of Prophecy urged its acceptance and also urged resistance against the tragedy of a divorce. In conformation, this statement, published in 1900, is quite conclusive: "Medical missionary work is in no case to be divorced from the gospel ministry. The Lord has specified that the two shall be as closely connected as the arm is with the body. Without this union neither part of the work is complete." —Ibid., p. 519. (Italics supplied.)
Every faithful believer can reason ably recognize this as an authorization for a beautiful, romantic, combined venture designed by our great Leader, the Lord Jesus Christ, to lend color and permanency to our work till the close of human probation.
During the first decade of the twentieth century, Battle Creek, the head quarters of our work, became the center of an issue involving the manager of the sanitarium and medical college and the General Conference. As the issue— which centered on matters of doctrinal apostasy and institutional management —came to a head, the voice of Ellen G. White was heard in frequent counsel, especially emphasizing the inspiration of the doctrines of the faith of Jesus and pleading for the maintenance of unity and fellowship in the presentation of our distinctive message to the world.
Every endeavor to negotiate a reconciliation and restore faith and harmony failed. Finally, in a momentous decision, the Battle Creek Sanitarium, which had been connected with the organization from its beginning, was lost to the work. The immediate reaction was reflected in a seemingly disastrous cleavage between medical workers and the gospel ministry.
"The loss to the denomination of the sanitarium at Battle Creek, together with some of the medical leaders, for a time brought questioning and perplexity to many minds not acquainted with all the facts. This separation seemed to be a severe blow to the medical mis sionary work. But He who had led and guided His people by divine counsel pointed the way not only to a compensation for what seemed to be lost, but to important advance moves." —The Story of Our Health Message, p. 328. (Italics supplied.)
The words italicized in the above quotation uncover the designs and devices of Satan in creating a "divorce" in an endeavor to thwart the counsel of the Spirit of Prophecy that "medical missionary work and the gospel ministry" "are bound together in sacred union . . . and are never to be divorced" (Counsels on Health, p. 528).
At this writing more than seventy years have passed since this inspired counsel was given and the divorce occurred. This divorce dimmed the luster of a beautiful romance of heavenly design seen in the harmonious blending of the sublime doctrine of faith with the gospel of health in ministry to both body and soul of a hungry, waiting world. The immediate aftermath of this tragedy was portrayed quite prophetically in 1900 in these words: "Medical missionary work is in no case to be divorced from the gospel ministry. The Lord has specified that the two shall be as closely connected as the arm is with the body. Without this union neither part of the work is complete."—Testimonies, vol. 6, pp. 240, 241. (Italics supplied.)
I have ministered to the cause now for three score years. During this period of service I have had opportunity to ob serve and experiment in the field of this romance of blended medical-missionary evangelism, and have been thrilled at the personal confirmation of the virtue and validity of the counsel that the Lord has given to us in tremendous volume to enhance our soul-winning ministry and make it more infinitely fruitful.
Time and space limit this reflection on the passing events of the past seventy years. One familiar text will suffice, as we indulge optimistically on the prospects for the future: "O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea" (Isa. 48:18).
The Renewal of the Romance
It's encouraging to see the current emphasis on a blended ministry that should serve to illuminate with greater brilliancy the light that shines through Adventism amid the closing scenes of a world in rebellion. Times such as these demand that we recall the words of Moses to the children of Israel in a time of emergency in their journey to the land of promise: "If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee" (Ex. 15:26).
The blessing of health and immunity to sickness and disease was predicted in response to simple and implicit obedience to a loving Father. This was beautifully expressed in the words of the psalmist, "He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations" (Ps. 105:8). This can and will be the experience of God's people today as we once again renew the romance of the lost vision of a blended ministry cooperating in health evangelism.
