Then all his disciples deserted him and ran away. Mark 14:50 (NLT)
A New York Times article[2] last
week carried a story about Dr. Mehmet Oz, the popular TV surgeon who came to
fame under the tutelage of Oprah Winfrey.
It seems Dr. Oz’ colleagues reported him to Columbia University, where
he is still vice-president of the school’s surgery department. The 10 doctors who signed the letter
complained that Dr. Oz has an egregious lack
of integrity for promoting what they call quack treatments.[3]
The
story also mentioned that a handful of angry doctors weren’t the only ones
demanding accountability from Dr. Oz:
Last year, Oz appeared
before a U.S. Senate panel that accused him of endorsing products that were
medically unsound. At the time, Oz acknowledged that some of the products he
advised his viewers to use "don't have the scientific muster to present as
fact."[4]
In a few conversations I’ve had with friends the name of Dr. Oz
has surfaced, and the comments have not been kind. The thoughts range from selling-out for
personal profit, to being under the thumb of his guru, Oprah Winfrey, and her
surefire mass marketing techniques.
Congress, Colleagues and falling ratings; are we leaving
Oz, Dorothy?
Dr. Mehmet Oz may or may not come out of this with his public
reputation intact. But no matter how
that may shake out, there is little chance he’ll be nailed to a tree, naked on
the town garbage dump.
Jesus did have to face public controversy that hasn’t yet
settled down for two thousand years. He
also faced public execution with all its humiliation and pain. Some would crucify him all over again.
Jesus knows how the TV
doctor to millions must feel. When it
came to crunch time all the disciples fled and left him squarely
under the bus.
And the fact that Jesus faced the loss of his most intimate
supporters, trials in the court of public opinion, the religious and legal
courts of Jerusalem and Rome, and took the worst they all had to hand out,
tells me that he also knows what you and I go through in the worst of our
times.
The writer of Hebrews put it this way:
This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses,
for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he
did not sin. Hebrews 4:15 (NLT)
For You Today
Are you
facing some kind of trial today?
If you’ve
got great support (or no support at all) from friends, family or public
opinion, your High Priest, Jesus has already been there. And he’s promised to never leave or forsake
you.
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