On Doctors and Preachers

The analogy between doctors and preachers is not new, but serves as a good reminder:

• Practical skills and theoretical knowledge are both non-negotiables for doctors. Would you visit a doctor who had only been trained in a trade-school by copying the surgery techniques of someone he watched, and touted, “Everything I know I learned in a hospital, not a school?”
• Doctors don’t make their decisions to please their patients but to save their lives. Oftentimes these two options are not antithetical, but sometimes they are. If a patient was asked about every decision the doctor made, there would be substantial disagreement. But the doctors often have to decide to do things because he has—sometimes through intense effort—acquired the knowledge of what is truly best for the patient. This is why the response, “well, at least the congregation enjoyed the sermon” is helpful (maybe) but not decisive in determining its value.
• Doctors require a high level of training because their work has life-and-death consequences. Car mechanics and doctors both use tools, both depend on theoretical knowledge, both diagnose, and both fix things that are broken. But doctors need advanced Masters degrees from quality universities because people are worth more than any Camry, F-150 or Ferraris.
• Doctors—at their best—endure messy, bloody, and discouraging situations so others can live longer, better, and healthier lives. I find it curious that some pastors are surprised when exposed to the mess inside of church members. Imagine the nurse—“Help! There is someone bleeding in the emergency room!"