M*A*S*H as Church?

Monday September 17^th was the 40^th anniversary of the premier of the television series M*A*S*H. I must admit that over the years I have probably seen every episode at least twice. Next to “Gone with the Wind,” “Caddyshack,” “Animal House,” and “Braveheart,” I am sure I know the most lines from this franchise. Yet, they are still good and worth watching every once in a while. I gleaned three things from years of M*A*S*H viewing which have shaped my vision of mission and ministry.

The first is in this name. “M” stands for mobile. The Church (capital “C”) needs to be on the go. We serve a God who is constantly moving. We need to be like John Wesley who said “the world is my parish.” And Wesley was an Anglican despite claims from the Methodists. He rode over 250,000 miles on horseback to carry the gospel message. I think Col. Sherman T. Potter would have loved Wesley. Remember, the main imperative in the Great Commission is “GO!” The Church on the go needs to take the gospel message to a dark and hurting world. The hurting, in whatever form, fashion or manner, are the ones we need to seek out as we go.

This leads to the second point. The Church should be a M*A*S*H unit. We may need to change the acronym a little. Instead of a “Mobile Army Surgical Hospital” we would be the “Messiah’s Army Spiritual Hospital.” The main objective of the mobile surgical units was to patch up those severely wounded so they could make it to a bigger and better hospital where they would receive the treatment they needed. Those with less severe wounds were patched up and sent back to the front lines. Even self-inflicted wounds are treated with compassion and care. The call the Church possesses should have the same objectives. When people come face-to-face with Jesus Christ – as they should each and every Sunday or other day of the week during a worship service – they will realize the extent of their alienation from him. Much of this alienation, otherwise called sin, is due to our pursuit of our own agenda (self-inflicted wounds) which keep us apart from God. These are the “simple” cases of restoration and renewal. The Church patches them up and send them back to the front lines of life. It is not that the Church puts a Band-Aid on their booboos and sends them back. It is not an “I’m okay, you’re okay” approach. These ailments require heartfelt confession and contrition and true repentance. The Church helps cure the problem, returns people to spiritual health and then returns them back to their unit in the Messiah’s army. Too many churches handle self-inflicted and other wounds much like the incident that got Gen. Patton in hot water. He is reputed as saying that cowards who hurt themselves to get out of the battle should be shot. We, the Church, are not real good at admitting our shortcomings in this area. We tend to shoot our wounded instead of offering healing. Our treatment of these issues needs some recalibration. But that’s not the topic at hand.

The more severe cases take time and effort. There are many maladies that require deep spiritual healing. The efforts of the patient and the healing team to obtain the maximum benefits of therapy are not achieved in a single prayer session or one-time laying on of hands. There is counseling and prayer and deep inner healing required. A whole life of affliction and baggage needs to be dealt with. This requires specialists in that area of healing. These patients need more than the local congregation can usually provide. We need to send them on. More and more people are becoming aware of these spiritual realities and are taking the time and effort to be released from their pain and bondage. Specialists are also training to extend the care needed to release these patients from their afflictions.

The biggest thing I learned from M*A*S*H was from the character Fr. Francis Mulcahy played by William Christopher. He was a quiet Roman Catholic chaplain. But underneath the calm and composed exterior was a strong warrior. While he was a make believe character in a sitcom, his actions and demeanor gave me insight into the role of a priest. Fr. Mulcahy showed that no job was beneath him as he changed bedpans with a song and a smile in one episode. In another, he undertook a dangerous mission to get needed drugs from black market bandits. The mild-mannered priest allowed one soldier to take sanctuary in the mess hall, which was used as the chapel, when the situation arose. He then stood toe to toe with the soldier when he wielded his gun to prevent his being taken back to his unit. The episode that had the most impact on my life and ministry was when Fr. Mulcahy had a discussion with Dr. Hawkeye Pierce. Pierce complained about losing a patient and how much more tragic that was for him than for anything that Fr. Mulcahy was involved in. The dear father responded, “When you lose a patient, they lose their life. When I lose a patient, they lose their immortal soul!” WOW! How is that for a description of ministry? Anyone involved in the ministry who does not have that perspective is missing the point.

I have learned that M*A*S*H is a good model for church. A mobile spiritual hospital is what I think Jesus had in mind. He called us to be mobile, to be on the go to the ends of the earth. Jesus claimed his mission was not to the healthy but to the sick. We follow in his footsteps. Many spiritual afflictions can lead to physical infirmities. Thus we diagnose and respond with the level of care required. And, we do it all with the mindset and attitude of Fr. Mulcahy who knew that souls were on the line with each and every patient. For Fr. Mulcahy knew that losing a patient had eternal consequences. While the television show is still in reruns, I would love to see the Church experiencing these reruns too. Week after week the church reproduces the results that are exemplified in being a M*A*S*H unit, a Messiah’s (mobile) Army Spiritual Hospital: mobilization of the army, healing of soldiers and civilians, and service with a smile andan encouraging word. With a church like this, the Kingdom of God would advance at a great rate and with much success. Praise God!