The church is perceived in the Bible as a female body in which each member functions as a cell to support the whole. Spiritual disease occurs when foreign elements invade this body and its defensive structure is overwhelmed. The body's wall is its immune system. When this system is compromised through a series of stresses the body becomes diseased. There are reasons why the defensive structure becomes weakened and unable to perform its intended function. The real problem is the quality of what is consumed to keep the system fit. The church body has cancer cells living in it at any given time. As long as individual cells make a strong effort to keep themselves well nourished on the food intended to strengthen them spiritually these cancer cells cause no great danger. When the individual parts are not fed the spiritual food that nourishes the relationship with God the fruit is disorder confusion and scattering. The spiritual wall is breached because minds are fed things from the world rather than the Word of God. This process sets the church up for scattering. The central issue is the dressing and keeping of the relationship with God. When this relationship is neglected the nourishment needed for good spiritual health ends. The result is a spiritual disease called Laodiceanism. This condition erodes spiritual health while giving the outward appearance of being in good health. The only source of nourishment that strengthens the spiritual wall to fight off all attacks is the Word of God.

Spiritual disease results in scattering of the church because scattering is a fruit of spiritual disease. Disease stalks and attacks the weak. Disease occurs when foreign substances invade and overwhelm the immune system. The church body has cancer cells in it at any given time called tares, heretics, false prophets or the like. As long as the individual cells strive to keep themselves well-nourished on the food intended to strengthen them spiritually the spiritual cancer contained in the tares heretics and false ministers pose little danger. They occasionally manage to influence some even convince a few to leave the fellowship of the church or put them into such a suspicious distrusting cynical or angry attitude that real spiritual growth virtually stops. It is similar to weeds crowding out the fruitful plants in an untended garden or like a cancer sapping the body's strength by using the body's nourishment for its own growth. In recent times worldly things gradually corrupted the spiritual health of God's children weakening them through spiritual malnourishment and changing their faith. A spiritual famine had struck setting the stage for scattering through malnourishment. The world's spiritual junk food gradually became the source of spiritual nourishment. It invaded attitudes and behaviors systematically weakening them as it produced the spiritual disease called Laodiceanism. It deceived because outward appearance suggested good health. The reality was that a spiritual cancer was eroding spiritual health. He who looks on the heart saw that they were wretched miserable poor blind and naked. When the test came in the form of false doctrine He found them lacking in spiritual strength and scattered them.

Spiritual sin creates physical illness. Spiritual filth creates physical disease. Filth physical or spiritual promotes disease. Those who promote decay, disease, and destruction will be destroyed. Satan creates degeneracy, filth of mind and body, spirit and environment. The parallels in the Bible between physical and spiritual are remarkably close. Being clean spiritually and physically is a major contributor to good spiritual health and good physical health. The clearly stated biblical fact is that spiritual filth is a cause of physical disease whether of the body or of the mind. Vain thoughts corrupt a person and the mind the heart has to be cleaned.