Jesus was the great Minister of healing, truly bringing to the people who responded to His ministry the "beauty for ashes" that the prophet Isaiah indicated would be a part of His work as Messiah (chap. 61:1-3). His disciples today are commissioned to follow His example—to share His love and beauty in a ministry of healing that will bring to a suffering world the "garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness."
In the light of HEW Secretary Joseph Califano's recently announced "war on smoking," initiated by the growing recognition of health hazards caused by the use of tobacco, the phrase "beauty for ashes" may take on a meaning not envisioned by the prophet. The Christian church was organized to be, and primarily exists as, an agency designed to fol low in the footsteps of Christ, in loving ministry to the needs of man kind, whether those needs be physical, mental, social, or spiritual.
Christ spent much time in healing and ministering to the physical needs of the people of His day, and as part of His program of total concern, His church today should respond by ex tending the same kind of healing ministry to both the church and the world. Jesus did not departmentalize His ministry into clinical and spiritual phases. Neither, I believe, does He expect His followers to do so. And one area in which we can make a particular contribution is in helping people stop smoking.
There is an increasing awareness that science alone has not been able to meet the health needs of the individual, particularly in the areas of prevention of illness and permanent correction of emotional problems. Sickness and disease in our modern world have been complicated by the social and ethical issues of our time. As a result, many health professionals are turning again to clergy men, to secure their cooperation in areas that are beyond the realm of clinical practice and scientific expertise.
Admittedly, today's health problems are more difficult to cope with than the epidemics of the past, since they involve socioeconomic factors and actually our whole way of life. For too long, many practitioners of health care have, it seems, been deliberately ignoring one of the most useful and effective motivational instruments in health-behavior change—religion. Recently, this fact has received growing attention and recognition. The subsequent development of the holistic approach to health care, which includes the spiritual along with the physical, mental, and social, gives great promise of developing a truly effective approach to the prevention and treatment of today's health problems.
In 1970, a nationwide sample of smokers was polled by the agencies connected with the National Clearinghouse for Smoking and Health; in 1971, a report of that poll's results made apparent that most of those who stay off smoking permanently are motivated by a religious conviction of one kind or another.
Richard A. Elsinger, of the United States Public Health Service, re ported on smoking recidivism in the December, 1971, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, stating that "perhaps the most interesting result retrieved from the preliminary analyses was that of the thirty-four respondents expressing that they quit because cigarette smoking was morally wrong, none were classified as recidivists." That is, none of this group had two years later taken up the smoking habit again.
The report adds, "Expressions of moral reasons for quitting was found to be a 'perfect predictor' of successful abstinence. The centrality of nonsmoking in the belief value system of respondents expressing this motive virtually assured success in remaining off cigarettes."
Religion, of course, is more than a motivating factor. In its best sense, religion doesn't push an individual to change his habits, it pulls him. It leads to a new way of life, which involves the whole man—physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually. The Christian, obviously, has the advantage of resources not available to those who attempt to change their health behavior through other methods. The power of God, the work of the Holy Spirit, the organized church, the power of intercessory prayer, and the wealth of in formation found in the Bible that not only deals with the concept of behavior change but illustrates it in case history after case history are all part of those resources available to the Christian, who recognizes their value and his God-given potential to find a new and better way of life.
What a challenge this presents to clergymen everywhere, not only to gain the victory over the smoking habit in their own lives but to use the holistic resources available to them to help their parishioners and members of their communities win personal battles in the "war against smoking."
