Health Plan

I think it's official. I believe I have now received more emails about the healthcare plan that's being debated across the nation than about any other topic. I receive emails for this and against that, fearful of this, reassuring of that - a non-stop parade of emails. What's a person to think about the whole mess?

By no means will I suggest to you how you should feel about the plan itself. I would not take away the responsibility from you to learn about this and think it through for yourself. But there are some thoughts about the manner in which we should consider this whole mess.

• God does not belong to a particular political party. He is not partisan in that regard. He does not reveal to us any directive on whether the government should be big or small, should deal with healthcare or not, hold the power at the federal level or at the state level. There are no biblical directives on these questions per se.
• God does reveal that governments do have specific responsibilities and should operate in certain ways. Governments should promote the good and deter the bad. They should treat citizens with fairness, and especially protect the vulnerable. They should protect civil order. Basic guidelines, but nothing specific along the political spectrum. Theoretically, those basic goals could be achieved by government doing something or getting out of the way (not to suggest that either is better than the other).
• God's people have successfully served under the worse kinds of governments. See Joseph, Daniel, and Paul for prime examples. No matter what government does, Christians can serve faithfully.
• God wants us to be salt and light for our communities and societies.
• God wants us to always act in a Christlike manner as we go about this business. He wants us to always speak in a Christlike manner. Some of the emails I've seen from Christians have been very un-Christlike.
• There is a tremendous amount of misinformation coming out from both sides of this debate. No side is vastly more accurate than the other, based on my observation. Therefore, in order for us to hold Christ-honoring opinions, we must do the best we can to sift through the misinformation, to examine the source of each piece information we get (whether or not it reflects our own opinion), and to hear both sides in order to try to discern where the truth is. You can even read the text of the bill yourself (http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h3200/text).
• The Church has a biblical responsibility to help the poor and vulnerable, especially those who are willing to work. Now, this may or may not include providing healthcare insurance through business or government, but it is a truth that we must deal with before forming our opinions. The position that we each hold must in all honesty consider our biblical obligations.
• We should let our congressmen know what we think and why. If a Christian does not communicate his or her views to the ones who are charged with representing them, then he or she is forfeiting one of the best tools available to have the law reflect the will of the people.
• There are other ways to make your views known: letters to the editor, blogs, call-in shows, public meetings, and so on. But, whenever we take these public avenues, our words and actions should reflect Christ in content and in manner. In other words, what we say and how we say it must be Christlike.
• We must separate what parts of our views are based on biblical standards and which are political preferences. It's OK to have political preferences, but they must be consistent with Scripture and they must not be confused with Scripture.
  

I have good, respectable, Christian friends who differ widely on this issue. Each of them has some good reasons for the view that he or she holds. I have my opinions, but I do want to sort through and make sure my views are formed by biblical truth, and I want to sift out the portions of my views that are just political preference.