A Christian father I know has a son who's gone and contracted pneumonia. The boy has been in hospital. The situation is under control.
When I sent a text message to ask the father how his son is doing, he replied that he was doing OK in hospital. Then he said, "We thank God for this pneumonia." That was it.
[EDIT #1: I should have clarified originally that this is something I have encountered in the past in Pentecostal circles. I raise the question because I was surprised to hear it coming from a Reformed Christian.]
I was immediately rather taken aback. I cannot say that, were my own son so afflicted, that my first response would be to thank God. I would pray for healing, and I would thank God for modern medicine (which makes pneumonia a lot less scary than it might be) and I would pray for God to be glorified somehow.
Now, I cannot say that it is quite wrong to thank God for sickness. We know that all things work together for our good. So is this just a matter of misplaced emphases? Am I seeing something wrong?
What is the correct response to such things, that, at least at first glance, are not exactly good things? I'd appreciate any help thinking about this.
[EDIT #2: One of my chief concerns is the optics of this sort of attitude. Unqualified, such a comment as that above could be misread, couldn't it? And just imagine telling your kid that you are thankful for his sickness. It might not be theologically incorrect, but it could give the wrong idea.]
When I sent a text message to ask the father how his son is doing, he replied that he was doing OK in hospital. Then he said, "We thank God for this pneumonia." That was it.
[EDIT #1: I should have clarified originally that this is something I have encountered in the past in Pentecostal circles. I raise the question because I was surprised to hear it coming from a Reformed Christian.]
I was immediately rather taken aback. I cannot say that, were my own son so afflicted, that my first response would be to thank God. I would pray for healing, and I would thank God for modern medicine (which makes pneumonia a lot less scary than it might be) and I would pray for God to be glorified somehow.
Now, I cannot say that it is quite wrong to thank God for sickness. We know that all things work together for our good. So is this just a matter of misplaced emphases? Am I seeing something wrong?
What is the correct response to such things, that, at least at first glance, are not exactly good things? I'd appreciate any help thinking about this.
[EDIT #2: One of my chief concerns is the optics of this sort of attitude. Unqualified, such a comment as that above could be misread, couldn't it? And just imagine telling your kid that you are thankful for his sickness. It might not be theologically incorrect, but it could give the wrong idea.]
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