Hello,
I am considering entering the field of Traditional
Chinese Medicine but am stuck at the point of contemplation over
whether this form of medicine and my faith as a Christian can
work together.
In your biography you mention that
you entered TCM as a non-christian. Looking back, would you as
a Christian choose to enter this field? If so, what points or
beliefs justify that?
How have your studies involved the religious background of many
of the practices of TCM? What kind of pressure have you felt to
adopt these views?
Thank-you for your help and thank-you in advance for your time
Sincerely,
Ryan
Ryan,
Yes, I definitely would choose it again. If I wanted to help
people heal, I would get into chinese medicine. Although I initially
worried quite a bit about Chinese medicine conflicting with Christianity,
and possibly having to give it up halfway through the education,
through study, thought and discussion with my pastor and others
it has become crystal clear to me that it is possible to practice
Chinese Medicine without any conflict whatsoever.
Reframing Your Questions
You asked: "What points or beliefs justify going into Chinese Medicine?"
Allow me to reframe that for a second. I'll come back to your
implications in a minute.
I think the better question is: "What justifies going into
any field as a Christian?" Unless you're going to become
a minister / pastor / (fill-in-your-denomination's-name-for-it),
you're going to have to choose an occupation to support yourself
and your family.
Some feel called to a career in healing.
Of those, some are more science-oriented, others are not. In
the past 50-100 years, most science-minded students interested
in healing have gravitated toward biomedicine. But now, some science-oriented,
left-brain-types go into Chinese Medicine. That's good, because
classic Chinese Medicine still requires translation, study, and
reasoning. We get a lot of right-brainers who aren't so hot at
those things. So they stop learning at a certain level, or lag
a bit behind those who are translating and teaching. And that's
ok... it's just nice that we're getting a more balanced and representative
group of professionals as we go on.
"What beliefs justify going into Chinese Medicine?"
you asked.
I assume you think that Chinese Medicine is different somehow
from other fields you might consider. I understand this from the
emails I've received... Many Christians wrongly believe that Chinese
Medicine is inextricably intertwined with the religions
of China. It is not.
Read my other articles on ChristianAcupuncture.com
for more about this.
Chinese Medicine is Neutral (Yes, like Switzerland)
America is weird. I'd bet (if I gambled) that if you talked to
most Chinese Medicine practitioners in China about your concerns,
they'd laugh, or just look at you blankly. Many of them are atheists-
as good communists are supposed to be - or Taoists, or Buddhists,
or whatever. But what they practice is chinese medicine,
not religion.
If you haven't noticed, not all of the biomedical doctors in
America are Christians. Many of them are Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist,
or Muslim. Does that affect their practice of the medicine? Generally,
no. It may influence their personal style or conversation, but
that's it.
The reason many Christian American healers are M.D.'s is because
many American healers are M.D.'s. It does not follow that all
Christian healers should be M.D.'s, or that it is the only Christian
way to be a professional healer. It's just the status quo... for
now.
The True Conflict
The true conflict to which you allude is not between your Christianity
and Chinese Medicine. It's between you as a Christian and non-Christians,
between Christians and New-agers.
Misperceptions about Chinese Medicine
Christians have been misinformed about Chinese Medicine because
of the slant new-agers put on it. CM is quite young in America
- it is a medicine that is still being translated into English.
This process began in the mid 1970's. We have very few real Chinese
Medicine textbooks in English- perhaps not even 1% of what exists
in Chinese. Only in the last 10 years or so have we begun to escape
the new-age-view of chinese medicine... now that we have more
and more of the real texts, we can see the real medicine for what
it is- a medicine, not a religion.
A good number of Chinese Medicine professionals in America (Caucasian,
chinese, african-american, whatever) who are not Christian also
are NOT new-age. That is changing as Chinese Medicine enters the
mainstream. And it has to! Most of America is Christian; look
the polls, and you'll see that more than 75% of Americans
are Christians.
Your Real Choice
So in regards to Chinese Medicine or not Chinese Medicine, the
choice is about which type of medicine you want to practice...
not about what you believe.
Fear Versus Faith
Many Christians are afraid of the influence of people from other
religions. But Jesus never shrank before the Pharisees. Paul and
Silas didn't shrink before the fortune-telling psychic who was
going around telling everyone they were from God. They cast the
demon out of her! (Acts
16:17-18)
Many seem to have this unnecessary fear or unwillingness to talk
to non-Christians. I don't think that's Christian. Christ talked
to the tax-collectors, lepers, prostitutes. He said that the people
who are well don't need a doctor (Matthew
9:12, Mark
2:17)
Willingness to Witness
The more I talk to Christians about this, the more I think that
the real issues are willingness to live in the world (but not
be "of" the world), willingness to witness, and underneat
that is how strong you are (or want to be) in the faith. If you
aren't strong, you'll be afraid instead.
So maybe I should revise that- the conflict is not between you
and non-Christians. It's between your commitment to the Great
Commission and your own fear.
If you want the easy road, just hang out with Christians. Don't
witness.
Stay comfortable. But ask yourself: Did Jesus take the easy way?
Did the apostles?
Nuh-uh. No way.
Paul said "no prolonged spiritual infancies please."
Don't
drink baby formula forever. Grow up, get strong in the
holy spirit. Don't cower in fear of new-agers - Get strong and
go witness to them!
That's my two cents.
Opportunity for Witness
Chinese Medicine is a rich and unharvested mission field. One
Christian student at my alma mater told me that she got into OM
because Christians need to benefit from it too. She went in to
claim it for Christ!
The Church Against The Gates of Hell
I believe very strongly that we are to reclaim what Satan has
stolen. Don't you know that verse that says the gates of hell
shall not prevail against us? (Matthew
16:18)
If you think about it, that means we go to the gates of hell.
It doesn't say that the gates of heaven stand strong against Satan-
the context is not of being inside a castle safe from the Enemy.
It's about going out to where the Enemy lives and taking him down!
(I owe that last one to my Pastor, Jim Hill... thanks Jim!)
What it was like for Me... How to Do it
There were a few classes where the instructors were taoists or
humanists and they didn't so much push it as just talk about it...
and of course we Christians have let ourselves be chased out of
many secular schools, given up our right to free speech... so
it would have been easy to be cowed and not say anything.
The dilemma is how not to be combative and violent and angry,
not to come from defensiveness, but to be rooted in the truth
you know, secure and confident.
I got to try some of that out. I brought up Jesus wherever I
could. If you do it right, the teachers cannot disagree without
contradicting the open-mindedness they profess. For more on this
topic, read Francis Beckwith & Gregory Koukl's "Relativism:
Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air," a short, pithy and practical
manual for those with long on courage but short on ammo.
Some of the students were flaky and new-agey... but basically
harmless. You learn how to deal with being around non-Christians,
how to talk to new-agers, andthat many of them respect you and
your beliefs. They incorrectly think all view are equal, and they
want us to agree to disagree- but with that we cannot agree. That
would mean to accept the foolish oxymoron of moral relativism.
Some good links for info on how to talk to New-Agers: Most of
the way down this
page you'll find some links. That page also has plenty of
links on about how to talk to all kinds of other cultists and
groups.
I pray that you get blessings, strength, and guidance
from the Holy Spirit in Christ's name!
B
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