Paul Brand writes in his insightful book The Gift of Pain: “[Mother] used to say, ‘There are two rules to pulling teeth. One is to slide your forceps down as far as you can, near the roots, so the crown won’t break off. The second rule: Never let go!’ In some cases it appeared that the patient extracted his own tooth by pulling away as Mother hung on to the forceps at all costs. Yet the patients who yelled the loudest and fought the hardest would come back another time. Pain compelled it.”
Only a few minutes ago I told my mom on the phone that I probably wouldn’t be writing about my toothache, but here I am, waiting for the antibiotic to kick in, and sharing the secrets of my lower right molar – pain compels inspiration, apparently.
Before the days of antibiotics, root canals, and crowns – and in many parts of the world today – there’s one solution to tooth pain, and it’s remarkably simple: extraction. Take out the offending tooth!
While I’m grateful for modern dental practices and inventions like antibiotics and painkillers, I can’t help but think about what Jesus taught in Matthew 5:29-30. He didn’t say anything about teeth, but he did mention what to do with our hands and our eyes that have the potential to cause us to sin: cut them off; gouge them out.
Our response to sin should be violent.
First Peter 2:11 says that our sinful desires wage war against our souls. We need to take an aggressive stand against our own flesh.
What would happen if I only took painkillers but never took the prescribed antibiotic and never got the dental work done? I would be masking the pain, but not treating its source. Sometimes we do this with our own sinful desires, even as believers. We treat our sinful desires casually. We treat the consequences. And this has damaging consequences.
It’s time to wage war. It’s time to pull that tooth, to cut off whatever is keeping you in a pattern of slavery to a sinful desire. It will cause temporary pain, but in the end, it will be more than worth it…
P.S. I HIGHLY recommend Dr. Brand’s book! It’s a fascinating look at cross-cultural work, medicine, and why pain is so important.