More On Health Care And Religion

SUN., APR. 26, 1992, 6:10 AM
FARM, STUDY

Properly, you have reread the Teaching I offered you yesterday. You shall reread that one, this one, and the others I suggested, and then you shall begin to organize your paper. You shall not have time to include all that I have given you and what you have read, so your major task will be in selection. It will be good to include a song, so you will have to be rather precise in how you organize this.

You must, of course, give some emphasis to a concern for the environment. Reread also your/Our Ruminations on a Deep Theology, emphasizing that ultimately health of humans is dependent upon the health of the planet. This means that the Church should take the lead in emphasizing the Christian’s and the Christian community’s role in stewardship. Noblesse oblige is a relevant concept here, for you sacrifice because you do have the power and the choice to be dominant. Don’t dwell on this, but make the point early… and strong.

Medical care now and in the future has some ethical and moral dilemmas with which it is faced. There shall never be enough of all that modern medicine could do for each human condition of ill-health. Can the Church speak out clearly on how best to “ration” medical care, or will it be better to have a divided voice that speaks to two or more sides of the issue? You see, of course, that the choices in this realm are going to be among defensible “goods.” (6:34 AM / 6:40) It is good to be in favor of care that sustains life for every person. It also is good to be a careful steward of resources, not overexpending on some who will soon die anyway. This was easier in Biblical times, a reason that there is little Scriptural attention given to it.

One of the hardest ethical questions is the extent to which this generation… yours… should pay its own bills versus piling these up for the next and future generations. More and more cannot be done without proper payment. Yours is not a pay-as-you-go culture, but the debt for the future will be staggering and immoral if present trends and proposed policies continue.

Remember that I love diversity, and this means that My whole Christian community just cannot speak with one clear voice on any but a very few issues. I am responsible for this. It is one of the tradeoffs… one good prevents another from being (6:54 / 7:06) You cannot have identical convictions with those in your audience next week. Yet you still are part of the same Body, this Body of Christ that is My Church. Emphasize this.

Speaking practically, which is one of your responsibilities, a new, more fair policy on medical care could not be put in place without some harm to those who now are benefitting. It is hard for a good Christian conscience to be in favor of policies that bring harm to some “innocent” people. Yet a national policy would hurt the present insurance industry, and misfortune for it would trickle down to many honest, hard-working folk. Should Christians be for efficiency? Systems that attempt to benefit all cannot be efficient. Further, efficiency usually is achieved at the expense of service to some who don’t fit efficient categories.

One more (no, I won’t say final) important inclusion: a vital element in health care is spiritual health, and in this dimension the Church has its successes and also some failure. All who come to a church, as children or as adults, do not have their spirits enriched in the process. No church can be all things to all people. Those whose spirits are weak and undeveloped are the hardest to satisfy in any efficient fashion. My Scriptures do not touch the spirits of all who read or hear them. I knew this would be true. Becoming born again is not for everyone… yet many whom I do not call specifically do come to Me.