When I go to the doctor, I don’t go so he can put a bandage on my finger and pat my head and tell me it’s all better. That might be a mother’s role with a young child, but it’s not the job of a medical professional with a grown man.

There must be a lot of people who want that, though. When I go to a doctor after having a nasty cough for a couple weeks—or some similar issue—he’ll often apologetically tell me that he won’t be able to give me antibiotics to treat the problem since the cause is a virus.

Why would anyone want drugs that will do no good? Does it help them to feel like something is being done, even when it isn’t? What I want is an accurate diagnosis from a medical professional, because I’m not one. Once I know what I have and don’t have, I know what to expect and how to live.

There are similarities between our physical health and our spiritual health, which Dr. David McKay (systematics professor at the RP Theological College in Northern Ireland) delves into in a new book on the age-old practice of biblical self-examination. We need to take some concerted time now and then to hold up our life to the great Physician and learn about the problem areas, indications of trouble, and what to do about them.

You can read part of a chapter from that new book in this issue of the Witness. This section of the book focuses on how our hearts are doing in their love for the lost and fervor to share God’s good news. Often in our churches we center our concern on the symptoms: Why are we not growing in number? Where are the young children? Why are we not unified? Why aren’t we meeting our budget? Many times the root cause, the illness, is a lukewarmness in our souls and not a lack of effort in programs and prayer requests. Our lukewarmness toward Christ can also spawn a lack of concern for those He came to save—already believers and yet-to-be believers. A good spiritual exam moves our focus from the symptoms to the cause. While injecting “drugs” might distract from the problem, no amount of easy cures will heal apart from Christ.

In the last few issues of the Witness, we’ve featured several articles related to evangelism. Some we assigned that way, and some arose because that is the focus of the life of the author writing the article. I’ve been encouraged, too, to read prayer requests from every RP denomination around the world seeking God’s blessing on evangelistic endeavors that are regularly being made. That is no small thing. Hard as it might be to share the gospel in the United States, it’s significantly more difficult for most other RP denominations around the world. But they know God will bring fruit, and so do we.