It’s Time for Churches to ‘Do No Harm’

Chances are you either work in the medical field, know someone who does, or just love a good hospital drama—so you’re likely familiar with the Hippocratic Oath. This ancient Greek document, sworn by doctors throughout history, is the oldest known code of medical ethics in the Western world. It has been translated, studied, revised, criticized, and used ceremonially for over 2300 years.

One of the most famous phrases from the English translations of Hippocrates is “do no harm.” (This phrase doesn’t explicitly appear in the original Oath, though “I will abstain from all intentional wrong-doing and harm” does. But we’re not here to argue about ancient Greek documents!)

Now, implementing this little motto is not always so straightforward—in an ER or elsewhere. For instance, if someone needs emergency surgery, there is no doubt the operation will harm their body, and yet, refraining from the surgery would cause the body even more harm. Even though there is some complexity here, reducing harm can serve as a helpful North Star for the medical ethicist. Which intervention will, overall, lead to the most wellness and reduce the most harm for the patient?

If you’ve spent any time in evangelicalism, I can almost guarantee you’ve heard the quip, “The church isn’t a museum for saints; it’s a hospital for sinners.”

If the church is in any way like a hospital, it’s time to ask—where is its Hippocratic Oath?

The Harm Needs to Stop

I thought of the phrase “do no harm” recently when I listened to The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill (which I also blogged about regarding toxic pastors), a podcast about the abusive leadership of Mark Driscoll. There is a particular quote from Driscoll that is featured several times in the series:

There is a pile of dead bodies behind the Mars Hill bus, and by God's grace it'll be a mountain by the time we're done. You either get on the bus or you get run over by the bus. Those are the options. But the bus ain't gonna stop.

Now, this is an extreme example. Usually the casualties of ministry are the quiet part, and Driscoll—true to form—is yelling about them from the rooftops. But this mentality is not unique to Driscoll or similar celebrity-pastor types. The idea that “running over” people is acceptable and necessary for churches is extremely common. I won’t delve into all the forms of harm, because if you’re reading this, I’m guessing you’ve seen or felt it. Churches harm by demonizing, excluding, gaslighting, slandering, discriminating… and they don’t feel the need to apologize for any of it.

How could this be? Well, think back to the complexity of simply “doing no harm” as an emergency doctor. If the doctor judges that amputation is the best treatment, they will “harm” the body by cutting off a limb in service of the greater good of the patient’s survival.

This is, no doubt, how Driscoll would justify his violent mindset regarding the mission of Mars Hill. No, he would likely admit, it’s not good to metaphorically run over someone with a bus—but sometimes it’s the only way to achieve the greater good: thousands of new church visitors, tens of thousands of book sales, and hundreds of thousands of Youtube views.

In other words, the greater good of the Mars Hill brand.

The Evangelical-Industrial Complex

Of course, terms like “brand” are often still the quiet part. The countless pastors who have this run-over-people-when-needed mentality usually spiritualize things: it’s about people converting to Christ! New Christians stepping into leadership! Mission trips! Baptisms! Marriages being saved!

But not really, because, overwhelmingly, white evangelical churches (and, frankly, most other types of churches) that experience explosive growth do so through “sheep stealing”—luring people from other local (less cool) churches. The real reason Driscoll trampled people with the Mars Hill bus was so that more and more others could pray to receive Christ at Mars Hill, get baptized at Mars Hill, become volunteers at Mars Hill.

If this sounds a lot like a business just doing whatever it can to improve the bottom line, that’s because it is. It is exactly that.

Wendell Berry, beloved American poet, author, activist, and farmer, wrote an interesting essay called, “The Way of Ignorance.” In the piece, he issues a harsh critique toward corporations, because as money-making machines, they do not concern themselves with right and wrong. This, he argues, is why faith communities are so vital to society—they can hold forth the humility and compassion that businesses do not have. They may be the only hope for our most powerful organizations to “do no harm.”

But what happens when our churches themselves, in the name of mission, God’s glory, or the Great Commission, have chosen to emulate for-profit businesses?

Who will teach our world to “do no harm” when churches have embraced harm as a growth strategy?

If you’d like to join us in our experiment to figure out how to “do no harm” as a community, please sign up here to join our weekly gathering on Zoom.