Samaritan Health Care

Health-care reform is on everyone's minds right now.  Politicians can't seem to agree on what needs to be done.  The American people don't know what they want.  Health-care professionals want reform but not at their expense.  I wonder what the mind of God is regarding health-care reform.  We can find out through the careful study of His Word.

I believe we can find the answer in Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan  found in Luke 10:25-37.  This story's central truth that we are to "love our neighbors as ourselves" which Jesus cites as the second most important commandment in all of the the law.  Loving our neighbor is also at the core of the health-care-debate.

The teacher of the law asked Jesus "who is my neighbor?"  At the time Jews did not consider Gentiles to be their neighbors.  The purpose of the Parable of the Good Samaritan is to show that God has chosen His people to be a blessing to those in need.  It is the obligation of every Christian to serve those in need with the resources and love God has given them.

Health-care coverage for everyone in America regardless of immigration status, race, or age should be the objective for all Christians.  As the story of the Good Samaritan so wonderfully illustrates nobody is exempt from our help if we have the ability to help them.  Unfortunately,  the church abdicated it's role to helping people a long time ago and governments have stepped in to fill the vacuum of need around the world.

Government run health care may be our only option in the wake of the huge mess that greed and selfish ambition at the expense of those less fortunate has bought us.  The church, though obligated to care for the poor, the sick, the fatherless, and the widow cannot possibly do so.  The many trillions of dollars simply does not exist even if every dollar given in church offerings is designated to the cause.

As Christian Americans, I believe we should support the effort to provide health-care for everyone within our borders.  I also believe that we should pray that God would direct those making these important decisions to follow His will in this matter.  We should be careful to practice loving our neighbor every chance we get and remember that nobody is exempt from our care and compassion.

Most importantly we should not forget that we are foreigners in this world.  The first commandment is to "love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind."  The health-care debate is secondary to our personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Getting our hearts focused on eternity puts the problems of these last days into perspective.