I have intentionally avoided US politics on this blog for a long time. My heart sank hard when I scanned the headlines this morning. I'm glad that our Lord is sovereign, and I will try hard not to lean on my own understanding. I confess I am very concerned about the teflon-coated slope on to which the US Congress just tossed us all.
Dads, I recommend you think seriously about what you can do to get out of debt, build up an emergency reserve, and help your children learn about liberty and economics.
Christian encouragement for men -- an evangelical perspective on current events, Scripture, and coming up the husband and father learning curve. Boldness without gentleness is tyranny; gentleness without boldness is not Christlike. Jesus was both tough and tender.
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Glenn Brooke
About Me
- Glenn
- Glenn is the author of several books for Bible teachers, including Teach the Bible to Change Lives (www.teachtochangelives.com). He has coached thousands of Bible teachers to be more effective.
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2 comments:
Why would your heart sink, when those who didnt have healthare coverage will now have an opportunity for coverage? How is Liberty lost for the rest of us??this is the language that scares me coming from Christians.
We are not promised tomorrow and when I meet my maker, I wanted him to say job well done, you helped those in need and didn't worry about how you it was going to benefit you There would never have been a HC reform bill that the Republicans would have passed as long as there is a Democratic President...what happened to family values, does it only exist whent it is convenient for those speaking?? disappointed in politics and many people.
Anonymous, thanks for your comment. It is good and right for Christians to be concerned about the sick. (Until fairly recently, almost every hospital in the US had a religious affiliation.) It is good and right for Christians to be generous towards those in need.
My concerns with the healthcare legislation passed by the House are constitutional, fiscal, and for the Church. [ It would be tempting to be concerned about the manner in which the bill was passed (no bipartisan support, legislative rigamaroll, executive orders on abortion funding to placate a few moderate representatives, etc) – but all this is a reflection of political processes that while ugly and distasteful, are a product of sinful men trying to get stuff accomplished. ]
By constitutional concerns, I mean the appropriate role of government. Let’s compare the statist approach to helping others vs. individual and community charity support to helping others. It’s one thing when I take a dollar out of my pocket to give to someone. It’s another when the state takes a dollar out of my pocket or your pocket to give to someone. The US Constitution created a limited form of central government with limited powers. Many decisions over the past two hundred years have contributed to a very powerful federal government. The government big enough to give you everyone is powerful enough to take everything away. I was unhappy with decisions made in the past 5 administrations that made the US federal government larger and granted it unconstitutional powers; this current administration has simply hit the accelerator. There is no constitutional authority for the federal government to be so involved in healthcare.
Many writers and bloggers have documented the problems with this bill, and where the decisions here will tend to lead over time. I won’t try to recap all of that here.
Fiscally, I have concerns about how all this will be paid for. We’re ratcheting up debt very quickly (again, not unique to the current administration, but faster than ever). If you believe the federal or state governments should cover the cost of medical insurance for those who cannot pay, make it a welfare approach for them – it would be cheaper than the approach taken by the Democrat party. Any time we have a 3rd party paying for a service, the costs of that service go up. I recommend Thomas Sowell’s book Basic Economics.
I pray that Christians in the US will abandon the hope that government authorities (even the ones you voted for) provide lasting, comprehensive answers to our fundamental needs. The Church should not give up concerns for caring for the marginalized by saying, “Oh, that’s the government’s job, not mine.”
A very good article I would encourage everyone to read: http://www.russellmoore.com/2010/03/22/dont-be-afraid/
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