CHRIST AND THE PHARMACY PROFESSION
By Adesoji Fasanya
The very purpose of this piece isn’t to downplay the role of other healthcare professionals in a bid to give biblical support to the Pharmacy profession, it is however to help many see the unique blend between faith and profession. Hence, it is a piece that will benefit every reader, howbeit, I used the Pharmacy profession as a front for it. This integration between faith and work can help improve the attitude of many Christians toward their profession. It is sure a sweet read!
“Apothecary” — an ancient word for Pharmacist or Pharmacy refers to an art that was used in the early centuries in making poultices, herbs, and other medicinal products for the relief of pain and sickness. It was present in almost all the human cultures and it sure still makes an impact to date. In the Jewish culture, God particularly gave Moses instructions on the composition and quantity of each ingredient that will be used to make both the Holy Anointing Oil and the Incense (Exodus 30:22–25, Exodus 30:34–37). It is should be noted that God instructed that the composition should not be used in any other compounding, making sure that the authenticity of the Oil and the Incense remained the same.
Production Pharmacists would relate well to this since they retain the composition and quantity of the excipients used in drug manufacturing, to retain the authenticity of the drug product. In Exodus 37:29, Moses did as God commanded. The Holy Anointing Oil and the Incense are two important things in Judaism and they sure have an import on the Christian faith. In the Jewish culture, the Oil was used for consecration (Exodus 30:26–30); Priests and Kings were anointed for office (1 kings 19:16, 1 Samuel 16:13) and the Oil was used to administer deliverance and healing. At some point, the Israelites were under Assyrian oppression, in sickness and pain, the prophet Isaiah spoke in Isaiah 10:27 that healing and deliverance will come via the Anointing. We found this truth also in the new testament when we heard James declare that if anyone is sick, such persons should be prayed for and anointed with oil for their healing (James 5:14).
This is parallel to the Pharmacist’s assignment as a drug compounder and manufacturer to provide quality healthcare to patients and people at large. So a patient has prescribed medication, he takes it in the right dosage strength, dosing frequency, and duration, after which such patient is healed from the ailment. Pharmacists are ladened with drug titration to appropriate strengths that will be adequate for a patient depending on his or her personal need, we call this individualized therapy. When I think of the incense, I remember aromatherapy. This is another aspect of therapy that is fast increasing. Here drugs are compounded in such a way that they exploit the inhalation route of drug administration and in many civilized worlds, this is fast becoming a trend.
How then should a Christian Pharmacist conduct himself? Dorothy Sayers said, “It is not right…to acquiesce in the notion that a man’s life is divided into the time he spends on his work and the time he spends in serving God.” A Christian Pharmacist is primarily a Christian before he is a Pharmacist and as such, he should live as Christ would in the office of a Pharmacist. Apostle Paul admonished us in 1 Corinthians 10:31 to “do all things to God’s glory”. We are to obey the pledge we took as though we took that pledge before Christ and not the registrar of PCN. Do not assume I am writing to only Pharmacists but everyone. John Calvin wrote “No vocation is more sacred than another. It is all one in the sight of God what a person’s vocation is in the world since this diversity does not hinder agreement in piety.” All vocation and profession are one before God and we should do our work as servants of Christ.“GOD decrees that man fulfill his calling, not in a monastery but the world”, Author Georgia Baroness said. Living as Christ’s servant in our vocation makes our calling show before the world and hence we are spreading the life of God over the earth.
The writing of the theologian R.C Sproul captures it all, he said, “The Christian who compartmentalizes his or her life into two sections of the religious and the non-religious have failed to grasp the big idea. The big idea is that all of life is religious and none of life is religious. To divide life between the religious and non-religious is itself a sacrilege.” This confronts the pervading anomaly; in church, you are firm and on Christ, and at work, you are just an ordinary worker. This should not be. Be a Christian Pharmacist, Be a Christian…. (Fill in with your profession). Thanks and God bless.
Bibliography
Sayers D. “Why Work?” In: Creed or Choas? Why Christians Must Choose Either Dogma or Disaster or Why It Really Does Matter What You Believe. Manchester: Sophia Institute Press; 1995.
Harkness G. John Calvin: The Man and His Ethics. New York: Abingdon Press; 1931:181
Ryken L. Calvinism and Literature. In: David Hall and Marvin Padgett (eds)., Calvin and Culture: Exploring a Worldview. Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing; 2010:98–99
Sproul RC. “What Does ‘Coram Deo’ Mean?” Retrieved July 2, 2020, from http://www.ligonier.org/blog/what-does-coram-deo-mean/. November 13, 2017.Scott E Kaufman. Called to be a Pharmacist: Recovering the Christian Doctrine of Vocation.
