Does Our Physical Health Really Even Matter To God?

By Travis Jones

Our bodies are so needy sometimes. They need constant attention like food, water, bathing, etc. Much of the maintenance we do for our bodies is such a chore; finding time to exercise, rest, eat healthy, go to the doctor, dentist, and all the other specialists, it all adds up. Trying to be healthy is like a full time job!

Over the centuries, Christians have taken many different views on our physical bodies. From neglecting our bodies for more spiritual things, to using pseudo-superstitious means to gain health, and wealth, Christians have landed all over the place. But what does Scripture teach us regarding healthcare and caring for the poor?

When God creates humans in Genesis 1, He recognizes that they and all creation are very good (1:31). Following the entrance of sin into humanity, God still does not condemn humanity or our physical bodies, but provides clothing to hide their nakedness (3:21). Tish Harrison Warren writes that God, “…did not shrink back from Adam and Eve’s shame. Instead, he covered it.”¹

One thing God makes exceptionally clear to the Israelites in His law, is His concern for the vulnerable, including their physical health. This is made clear in His command to them to leave the edges of their fields untouched to allow the poor to glean and have food to sustain their bodies (Leviticus 19:9-10). This is a way in which God sets up systems in society to care for the health of everyone, especially the poor, by making provision for them to have their daily bread so they can have a chance at living healthy lives.

Centuries later, God commands His people, through the prophet Jeremiah, as they are going into exile to continue caring for their bodies by living in houses and planting gardens to eat the food grown in them (29:4-5). Jeremiah, “…assumes that you cannot truly practice presence fully without being concerned about your health and the health of those around you.”² God cared deeply about the physical health of His people even while in exile.

The most striking aspect of how the Bible speaks about our physical bodies comes when Christ Himself takes on a physical body (John 1:14), and the implications of this are crucial. Jesus came and took on human flesh, He became just as we are. He cried, laughed, got sick, stubbed His toe, had allergies, and all the other embarrassing stuff we deal with. Thus, our bodies are important enough to God that He took on a body of His own. And the physical needs of our bodies are so important to Christ that He equates loving others through providing food, water, clothing, etc., to loving Him (Matthew 25:31-46).

John also makes it clear that loving others is to be seen in our actions towards them, our caring for their physical needs (1 John 3:17-18). This means that in caring for our neighbors, we must care for their physical health. And this must include not only access to food and shelter, but quality healthcare as well. Our bodies are important to God, and we must not only care for our own physical bodies, but our neighbors’ as well.

Our efforts to support our neighbors and their health should address both the individual level, through relationships, and the systemic level, through the systems set up in our society that provide and regulate healthcare. We cannot discount one aspect for the other, we must work for the health of our neighbors in the circumstances we find ourselves in.

¹Tish Harrison Warren, Liturgy of the Ordinary (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2016), 40.

²Jonathan Brooks, Church Forsaken (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2018), 68.