Christian Witness and Health Care Reform

Christian Witness and Health Care Reform

The purpose of this short essay (one page) is to think about how our faith should/can inform the health care debate. It continues to amaze me how many people of faith are opposed to health care reform and resist it religiously. Some studies indicate that up to 30 percent of our present health care costs could be eliminated with a more efficient single-payer delivery system. European countries consistently spend significantly less of their GNP on health care. Many Americans go bankrupt each year for the bad sense to get cancer. Yet the fear-mongering continues. More than fear-mongering, we have fear-based thinking that paralyzes us from taking action toward healing a broken system that is only getting more expensive and cost-prohibitive. This situation demands the Christian community exercise more faith than fear - always a good 'Jesus' thing to do.

I’m a Bible scholar and dedicated to thinking inside the biblical narrative as a Christian. Of course the Bible doesn’t command one particular system of delivering health care. But I taught a class on the prophets of the Old Testament last year and spent much time absorbing their message and listening closely to their pleas for justice and mercy. O fundamental theme is that faithfulness to God includes or even demands concern for the weak and the helpless. Amos (in 2:7 and many other places) condemns those who trample on the poor and oppressed. Zechariah 7:10 commands, “Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.”

Defending the rights of the poor is a central theme in Isaiah starting with 1:17, “Isaiah 1:17 with “Seek justice . . . encourage the oppressed.” Jeremiah 5:28 condemns leaders who have grown sleek and fat and no longer care about the poor and oppressed. The unique characteristic of the God of the prophets is that he cares about the poor and opposes those who are rich who abuse the poor. For the prophets, lack of concern for the poor of the land is a central means by which one could judge the piety of another. The God of the prophets in lordly freedom joins his future to a gaggle of slaves in Egypt. The gods of no other nation could do such a thing. This is absolutely unique: Great nations have powerful gods and vice versa. But Yahweh associates with the poor and created even them in his image. In typical ancient mythology, it is only the king and his family who are in the divine image.

As Christians, we are called to participate in the joyful resurrection power of Jesus by doing the work of Jesus. His work often centered on healing which was a physical demonstration of the Kingdom of God and the sacred worth of all persons. Jesus' primary ethical demand was to love God first and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. He illustrated this with the Good Samaritan parable - which functions frankly as a nice image of the self-giving sacrifice required to live the Jesus' way. Fundamental to Christian narrative is the story of a God who sacrificed his own Son to bring spiritual and physical wholeness (true shalom). Christians who want to enter into this narrative (which is what it means to take up your cross and follow Christ) should be willing to do the same. It requires faith, not fear, to make this journey.

Lacking access to health care is deeply dehumanizing. Christ would condemn our lack of concern for those made in the divine image. The problem we have is that we are bound by fear. What if health care reform will be bad for me personally? What if my taxes go up? What if the national debt increases? People of faith are so fearful and lacking in prophetic Christ-like passion for what is clearly and unambiguously a better social good.

A personal story. When my wife Kitty was diagnosed with breast cancer several years ago, we were seriously affected due to her inadequate insurance plan. Thankfully we did not have to declare bankruptcy. God is good and I’m grateful. However, I spoke with her oncologist and asked him (several years ago) if he supported a national health plan. He said yes. When I asked why, he said, “I see what cancer does to hard working families. Small business owners like plumbers, carpenters, and landscapers often have to declare bankruptcy. These are good hard-working people. The present system is unacceptable as it is and only getting more expensive.”
Call your congressperson and ask that they vote for health care reform when they return from the break – something that would be available to all Americans. We are the only developed country in the world without it. Canadians must think we are a bunch of Neanderthals. BTW – it’s a lie that they flock down to the USA because of lack of availability. It’s like a lightning strike – very rare but when it happens, everyone talks about it.