Checkup

 March 22, 2023

The question is always the same: “How are you doing today?” In normal conversation this would be pretty innocuous, little more than a greeting. But I’ve heard these same words at least three times in the last couple weeks as the nurse is leading me down the hallway to see the doctor. 

“I guess that’s what I’m here to find out,” is my stock answer. If I knew I were doing well, I wouldn’t be walking down a hallway beside a nurse. Fact is, I feel fine, but how we feel isn’t necessarily an accurate measure of how we actually are. There are plenty of stories of people who felt fine just before they keeled over or received bad news from the doctor. Our feelings can be fickle…and fake.

When I listen to those who tell our children that if they feel they’re in the wrong gender body, their feelings are more important than their DNA, I am amazed that people in medicine or psychology buy into such indoctrination. Then I remember our capacity for self-delusion. We humans have an amazing ability to ignore reality, twist facts, and distort evidence in order to come to pre-determined and preferred conclusions. St. Paul says it clearly in the first chapter of Romans.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all impiety and unrighteousness of people, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what can be known about God is evident among them, for God made it clear to them. For from the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, both his eternal power and deity, are discerned clearly, being understood in the things created, so that they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasoning, and their senseless hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools,” Romans 1:18-22 

The key phrase in this text is “who suppress the truth in (or “by”) their unrighteousness. We use our desire to do what we want to drown out the whisper of God’s Spirit in our hearts. We get to the point where we actually believe we are doing fine when in reality, our spirits are on life-support. 

How are you doing today isn’t a query about your feelings, but about reality. The old-timers said it differently: “How is it with your soul?” It’s a question worth asking, but even more, worth answering. But only after dispensing with our feelings and getting that checkup with Dr. Jesus.