We’re supposed to take care of our bodies. And we’re supposed to go to the doctor when we’re sick.
That might sound obvious, but it’s worth saying clearly because some Christians treat medical care like it’s a sign of weak faith. The Orthodox Church doesn’t see it that way. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, as St. Paul says. Temples need maintenance. When something breaks, you fix it.
But here’s where we differ from the culture around us in Southeast Texas (and everywhere else). We don’t worship health. We don’t treat the body like it’s the most important thing about us. It’s not. Your soul is eternal. Your body, as much as we honor it, will die. What we’re after is healing of both body and soul together, not just adding years to our life or inches to our biceps.
Body and Soul Together
Orthodox Christianity doesn’t split the person into separate compartments. You’re not a soul trapped in a body or a body with a soul tacked on. You’re one person, body and soul united. That means what happens to your body matters spiritually, and what happens to your soul affects your body. When you get the flu, you pray. When you’re anxious, you might also need to sleep more and eat better. It all connects.
This is why we fast. Fasting isn’t about hating the body or punishing it. It’s about training it, bringing it into harmony with the spirit. The Antiochian Archdiocese actually recommends that people with health conditions work out their fasting rules with an Orthodox physician or dietician. That tells you something right there. We take bodies seriously enough to want medical guidance on how to care for them even while we’re pursuing spiritual discipline.
Medicine Isn’t Faithlessness
Some of the greatest saints were doctors. St. Luke the Evangelist was a physician. Sts. Cosmas and Damian were twin brothers who practiced medicine and refused payment, healing people freely in Christ’s name. St. Panteleimon was a court physician who became a martyr. The Church has always honored the medical profession as a way of participating in God’s healing work.
Going to the doctor doesn’t mean you don’t trust God. It means you’re using the means God has provided. When you break your leg, you pray for healing and you go to the emergency room. Both. You don’t choose between them. God works through doctors, through medicine, through the body’s own capacity to heal itself. All of it is grace.
That said, we don’t treat doctors like they’re gods either. Medical science has limits. It can’t cure death. It can’t save your soul. And sometimes, honestly, it can’t cure your body either. We live in a fallen world where people get sick and die, and no amount of medical technology changes that fundamental reality. So we approach medicine with gratitude and realism, not with the desperate faith that the culture often places in it.
Prayer and Sacraments
When someone is sick, the Church prays. We have specific prayers for the healing of soul and body. We have the Mystery of Holy Unction, where the priest anoints the sick with oil and prays for healing. Sometimes people are healed miraculously. Sometimes they’re healed through medicine. Sometimes they’re given strength to endure. Sometimes they die, and that’s its own kind of healing because death isn’t the end for us.
The point is that we bring our sickness to the Church. We don’t just treat it as a medical problem to be solved privately. We ask for prayers. We receive the sacraments. We let the community care for us. This isn’t instead of medical treatment. It’s alongside it, surrounding it, giving it context.
Moderation in All Things
The Orthodox approach to health avoids two extremes. On one side is neglect: smoking, overeating, refusing medical care, treating the body like it doesn’t matter. That’s wrong. On the other side is obsession: spending all your time and money and mental energy on being healthy, treating your body like it’s the most important project of your life. That’s wrong too.
We’re after moderation. Take care of yourself. Exercise. Eat reasonably. See your doctor. Get your prescriptions filled. But don’t make an idol out of health. You’re going to die eventually no matter what you do. What matters is whether you’re growing closer to God, whether you’re being healed of sin, whether you’re learning to love.
If you’re facing a health crisis right now, come talk to someone at the parish. We’ll pray with you. We’ll help you think through your decisions. And we’ll probably also make sure you’re actually seeing your doctor and following their advice, because that’s part of how we care for each other as the Body of Christ.
