Is Therapeutic Touching Ministry?

Therapeutic touching is not part of mainstream Christianity even though gospel accounts of Jesus' ministry show him healing great numbers of sick and disabled people.

His healing ministry was an important part of his public persona and the chief reason for his fame (Mk6:53-56,Mt8:16).

Though Jesus touched some to cure them (e.g.,Mk7:31-35,8:22-25) therapeutic touching was not necessary for the miracle.

Why is it important to get that clear?

Because...the idea has pervaded Roman Catholic ministry that hugs...and other kinds of non-sacramental touch...are holy...healing and life-giving.

They are a kind of therapeutic touching. At the least...they are thought to have value in ministry...though the value is rarely...if ever...specified.

This arbitrary notion about touching others in ministry creates serious boundary problems that result in loss of ministry... scandal...and ruined lives.

When church authorities receive complaints about these ministers...and send them for evaluation and treatment...the ministers almost always insist they were doing something ministerial.

But they are wrong...for three reasons...

The healing ministry of Jesus shows plainly that therapeutic touching...even for spiritual ends...is not fundamental.

They have not defined ministry .

They have not shown how it follows that therapeutic touching is a necessary kind of ministry.

What is fundamental about healing ministry?

Jesus emphasized the spiritual nature of healing.

He drove home the point frequently...that it was a man or woman's own faith that performed the miracle -- that healing comes from within the believer (Mt8:13,15:21-28) not necessarily from any religious therapeutic touching (Mt9:27-29).

Faith is so essential...and therapeutic touching so nonessential...that healing may even take place at a distance where touching is impossible (Mt8:5,15:28).

The scripture stories make it plain that without faith...nothing would happen at all.

And when therapeutic touching is used...it is only effective when it is based on faith.

Even secular medicine shows the necessity of faith in healing.

Did you know that cancer patients who believe in their treatment -- whether it is mainstream chemotherapy or alternative therapies -- respond better than patients who do not have such active faith?

So when a minister utters those fatuous words "You look like you need a hug" and rushes to embrace someone...any indication of the hugee's faith is far from obvious.

What about sacraments that use touch?

In the Roman Catholic Church the anointing of the sick requires ritual touch that is believed to be sanctifying only -- it is not therapeutic touching.

There are few if any reports of someone being physically cured and saved from death after such anointing.

The purpose of the anointing is to make sure the person is ready for death...it is not to thwart death.

The steps of the touching ritual are spelled out clearly in the rubrics. And whenever possible the anointing is...like Jesus' healing ministry...to be public...especially including the sick person's family.

But even sanctifying rituals involving touch can become abusive when a minister does not respect the careful definitions and boundaries of the particular ministry and... he defines sacramental touching to suit his own purposes

The priest in the example still believed that his actions were ministerial even though he was sexually aroused by them...and that was what motivated him to encourage others to seek special anointings with him.

Such ministers fail to take into account that the healing ministry of Jesus took place entirely in public.

What was Jesus like in private?

You can sort all the scenes in the scripture in which Jesus appears into two categories...how he behaved in public and how he behaved in private with his friends.

His actions are starkly different. Aren't they?

In private Jesus reclines...eats...and even argues with his friends (Mt26:6ff,Mt26:20ff).

Jesus' friends are physically free with him and anoint him with expensive oil...and Mary wipes the oil from his feet with her hair (Jn12:3)

However Jesus rarely touches anyone in his healing ministry. The man with the demons is cured in a dialogue with Jesus (Jn5:9)...

Jarius makes the honorific gesture of prostrating himself before Jesus and asks him to cure his daughter by laying hands on her.

Jesus goes to her house and in a simple gesture of taking the child's hand...in the presence of her family...tells her to wake up (Mk.5:41). It is one of the few times Jesus touches someone to heal.

In fact...he stayed close to the water (Mk.5:21) so he could escape the crowds jostling him when they pressed him too closely.

Jesus was startled and annoyed when the woman with the hemorrhage touched him...so much so that she was fearful...and the apostles had to reason with him to calm him (Mk.5:30,31).

When the scribes and Pharisees brought the woman taken in adultery to him for judgment Jesus invited the sinless one among them to cast the first stone.

When no stone flew...and they were alone...Jesus did not utter those fatuous words "You look like you need a hug!" Which the woman probably did need...having just escaped a horrible death.

He simply told her no one had condemned her and that she should sin no more (Jn.8:11)

So what's a minister to do?

Here's how gay priest who is a trained counselor sets boundaries...

He says: "I only hug the men on my caseload."

If so then it is not touch that is important in his ministry...it is touching other men that is important.

But which ones?

Does he hug all of the men on his caseload or just the homely out-of-shape men...perhaps rationalizing out of kindness that no one else would hug them.

Or does he leave those alone and only hug the good-looking ones...or only the tall ones...or the ones with mustaches?

In order for him to understand what he is doing...he must locate the boundaries he has for touch.

Specifically...who he touches...how he touches them...and why will tell him a great deal about the authenticity...or the lack of it...of his work in ministry.

And note...the element of faith on the part of the ones he selects for hugging is missing.

So...this behavior is not ministry at all. It's not even therapeutic touching. It is private preferences acted out under the guise of ministry.

Sometimes therapeutic touching takes place in hot tubs!

Does that mean touch is not important?

Not at all.

Touch is crucial in people's lives.

It has been known for a long time that newborns who are not handled regularly fail to thrive.

And so do the elderly.

What does a massage therapist
know that I don't?

Good question.

The massage therapist understands perfectly well the first axiom about touching others...

that people will experience their bodies according to their unconscious and conscious emotional states.

And they will interpret the touch accordingly.

Any massage therapist can tell you that people on the massage table often surprise themselves when they have unexpected emotional reactions to therapeutic touching of the the massage therapist...

Someone touched on the back of the thigh reports that suddenly she feels sad.

Someone else touched on the belly begins to cry.

Another begins to chuckle and laugh when touched in the middle of the back.

The massage therapist is prepared...by her training...to deal with the fact that...the body stores unconscious emotional memories that are triggered by touch.

Even when the person being massaged reports that it feels wonderfully sensual...the massage therapist is rarely if ever sued for producing such reactions.

But it's an entirely different story when people feel sexual during a touching encounter with clergy.

Ministers on a large scale still need to understand this...

By touching someone in ways open to a variety of interpretations...hugs for example...with no training to deal with the consequences when you enter a person's unconscious store of memories...the person may very well resent the intrusion. Or...

the person may love the intrusion!

Very often the minister is one of the few people who is gentle and sensitive with others. This quality easily creates a positive attachment to the minister that was not intended.

This all boils down to three things about therapeutic touching...

The scriptures show that touching others has no necessary relationship to ministry...even so-called healing ministry

The touch will be interpreted by the emotional state of the person a minister touches...no matter what the minister intended

The emotional state of all those healed in the scripture was religious faith that they would be healed.

We might add that...

the one in need of healing initiates the process...it is not imposed at the whim or the discretion of the minister.

This is also true in secular life.

Massage therapists don't go around pummeling people.

People who need that kind of therapeutic touching call and make an appointment.

While you may think your hugs and kisses are 'life-giving' therapeutic touching...they could be the death of your ministry if you don't know the emotional state of the person you are touching.

If you feel neutral about a person you hug...but she feels sexual about you!...she may think the hug is a come on.

If you feel sexual about her...and she is repulsed by you...she may feel that you are harassing her with sexual come ons.

Therapeutic touching and so-called 'life-giving' physical contact is best avoided by professionals...and ministers...whose work does not actually require touch.

You get the idea. I hope.

As you think about these issues of therapeutic touching in ministry...

You may have questions.

You can use the form below and ask away!!

We'll send you a speedy reply.

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