The Waiting Room
An analogy for church
Welcome to the waiting room. The doctor is in and his operations are in process. You may stop hiding under the tables in the back, and as soon as you can pry your hands off the chair in front of you or from around your neighbor's neck, feel free to enter the pre-op room located over here to your right.
Ah, I see you are hesitant. Perhaps you may be wondering what to expect from the doctor’s surgery and your stay here in the hospital.
Please, take a moment to study the magazines under the chairs in front of you. They depict the proper function of the human body: the respiratory system, cardiovascular system, nervous system, etc. You may notice a striking resemblance between these pictures and the doctor, our Master Surgeon, and that's because they are one and the same. In fact, these pictures are of the surgeon's own organs, the only ones, it turns out, that are in working order.
Upon studying these magazines, you may be overwhelmed by how your own body is far from working order. Have no fear. The Master Surgeon is proficient in diagnostics and reparative surgery. There is no disease he cannot cure. No mental illness he hasn't seen. No missing limbs he hasn't regenerated. If you signed in at the front desk, you will be put right.
By the way, did you sign in at the front desk? I ask because some people think they’ll be cured simply by being here. Allow me to clarify. This is not the case. You must ask the front attendant to enter your name into his appointment book. If you get the uncanny feeling that the front attendant bears a striking resemblance to the Master Surgeon, it is because he is one and the same.
Once your name is entered into his appointment book, your treatment shall commence. If your condition renders you unable to enter into the operating room. Do not fear. Just call, "Doctor! Doctor!" and the Master Surgeon will come posthaste. If you are hemo-phobic, you may close your eyes. If you are afraid of going alone, you may go in pairs. Husband-wife and friend-friend joint operations are welcome. But make no mistake, the operation will be upon both of you.
Be advised: after your initial surgery, patients often feel better and believe themselves entirely cured. Do not leave the hospital. Your treatment is not complete. The suture on your incisions won’t hold for long, and you must undergo your next surgery or end up far worse. Follow the doctor's orders. Return to your waiting room.
If you are one of those patients who doesn't seem to experience these periods of good operating order, do not be discouraged. The doctor doesn't hate you. In fact, it's quite the opposite. You've been entered into the doctor's fast-track treatment program. Strap yourself in. It's going to be a wild gurney ride. But don't fear. Just hold on and bare your heart. He'll take care of the rest.
You may have noticed our staff walking the aisles with refreshments, snacks, and post-op instructions. Make no mistake. They are not the doctor. Do not treat them like the doctor. They’re here to encourage you to enter treatment by undergoing it first themselves. They hope you'll join hands with them across a gurney perhaps and go in together as friends—nay, family.
Do not, I repeat, do not buy plastic scalpels from your fellow patients. Some like to dress up in scrubs and masks and pretend the diagrams on the walls are of themselves. Do not buy their equipment. Do not try to operate on yourself or your fellow neighbors. Even if they refuse to go in for their treatments and are losing blood at a rapid rate, even if they put their hands around your throat and shout, "Heal me!" Do not attempt to operate. Instead, in a loud voice call, "Doctor! Doctor!" and the doctor will come.
If you grow impatient with the wait time, disgusted with the overhead music, or horrified by the other patients, feel free to try the waiting room down the hall. However, be warned, that waiting room is just as full of sick people as this one. And while the room decor and volunteer staff may be different, the doctor is the same and so is the procedure.
If, after frequenting several waiting rooms, you find none to your satisfaction, do not live in the hallways. Doing this often leads patients to believe the two contrary views that they are both sicker and not as bad as those in the waiting rooms. Such patients often seek help from shamans and become more befuddled than ever. Therefore, do not linger in the hallways. Do not opt out of your next surgery. Get used to a waiting room.
Learn to see your case as just as deadly and just as curable as everyone else's. Make every effort to bear with the other patients who exhibit all manner of unsightly symptoms. Be completely honest and gentle with them. For there is one body, this Hospital of God. There is one Spirit of Health we seek to live in us. And there is one Master Surgeon who is over all and in all and working through all to see this body’s healing completed for his glory forever and ever. Amen.
“How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live together
in unity [in God’s hospital!]” From Psalm 133:1