Bill Johnson shares the following insight to explain how and why he believes the watered-down doctrine of healing has become prevalent in the west.

He tells how a number of years ago, he heard a pastor talk about a building project he once had for his church. The pastor related how much he wanted to help the contractor in the building process. He was obviously excited for the new project, but because he had no building skills, it wasn’t easy to find a place for him to fit in. He was persistent in asking if there was any work he could do. His enthusiasm over the building project finally persuaded the contractor to find him something to do. The contractor told him he needed one hundred two-by-fours cut to eight feet in length for the next morning. The pastor was excited he got to be involved in his own church project. So after everyone else had left for the night, the pastor stayed and cut the timber. He took the first piece of wood, measured eight feet with his tape measure, and marked it. He then carefully cut it to eight feet exactly [it was a perfect measurement]. So, instead of using the tape measure for the second piece of wood to be cut, he used the previously cut board, as he thought it would be much easier. He laid it on top of the new one, carefully drew a line where the board needed to be cut and sawed off the part that was too long. He then took the newly cut board and placed it on top of the next piece that needed to be cut. He used this method of measuring throughout his assignment to cut one hundred boards.

I’m sure you can see the problem. By using the previously cut board as a measure, the next board is marked and cut about one-eighth of an inch too long [the width of the saw blade]. This process wouldn’t have been so devastating had he only had two or three boards to cut. But when that method is used for one hundred boards, you end up with ones at the end of the pile being over nine feet long.

For over two thousand years, we’ve been comparing ourselves to the previous generation, noticing only slight differences. And to console ourselves with the task at hand – the Great Commission to disciple nations, displaying the greater works – many create water-down doctrines that dismantle the example and commandments that Jesus gave us. Instead of comparing ourselves with ourselves, we should have been using the original standard found in the life of Jesus so that the measure of God’s goodness revealed in Christ would have remained the same through the past two thousand years. God is bringing us back to the original measurement so that He might be revealed more accurately as the Father who loves well.

Source: Bill Johnson, 2016, God Is Good, Pasadena USA: Destiny Image Publishers, p.41-42