The Word of God clearly teaches that ministry to the sick is the responsibility of believers. Countless thousands of believers have not understood that God has called ALL of His people into the field. Traditionally, because of misunderstanding, doctrinal error and fear, we have delegated spiritual labor, to a handful of specialists, evangelists, pastors and teachers not realizing that God has called every believer to proclaim His Word and minister to the sick. Concerning the sick, Matthew 25:34-46 evidences the believer’s responsibility when Jesus said,

“…the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ “And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’”

Ministering to the hungry, the poor, the imprisoned, the needy and the sick is a ministry to our Lord!  And even more specifically, Jesus gave the Great Commission to believers as recorded in Mark 16:17-18 where He said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” This scripture is an authorization and a call to all who believe in Jesus Christ. It is comprehensive enough to include all believers.

Every believer is called to participate in God’s harvest of souls and to minister to the sick in the healing ministry of Jesus Christ. I can see no good reason why individual churches cannot become healing centers except for the fact that some leaders may be unaware or uneducated about the healing portion of Jesus’ great commission. This is easily remedied by delving into the Word of God to discover the amazing healing ministry of our Lord and His advice that all of us are to “follow” Him in belief, example and direct outreach to the sick and hurting ones as well as those needing salvation. It is exciting to think that as the healing message of Jesus Christ reaches more and more people, He will marshal this growing army of believers into a meaningful healing ministry.