i've been debating posting my thoughts about this whole health care issue mainly because my ideas/thoughts on the issue don't personally fit neatly on the republican or democratic side so i think i should just keep all that i've been wrestling with to myself or to a select few...but why would i let myself be silenced? well, that's called letting a little thing called the fear of man & rejection have some reign over the Fear and acceptance of God. plus, a lot of what i'm going to type out here are not new thoughts but thoughts i've been working through for the past year & a half.
well, i learned a LOT(not exaggerating here) in grad school about myself, passions, vision from the Lord, etc and one of the main truths the Lord taught me was that He longs for His church to be His hands and feet wherever He has sent us, that He wants us, His Church, to be the ones in the trenches serving the poor, needy, orphans & widows because these actions are a response to our faith & salvation through Jesus and the direct, true response to God's love dwelling within us & guiding our sanctification. and as believers we are the ministers of reconciliation, the only ones able to share the eternal Good News of who can heal their souls. James 1:27 tells us this "Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world."and reading Jesus' parable in Matthew 25: 31-46 I discern his words to serve all of His creation & children, to love them as He loves us & if they were Jesus himself.
these truths really hit me as at the time i thought the only way for me to be an effective social worker based on my talents, interests, big-picture thinking was going down the social policy road...i find social policy & its history in our country very interesting & still do to this day but God had a completely different idea...He repeatedly has shown me how it is vital for the Church & message of the Gospel to be the ones providing many of the services and programs that i had grown to expect the American government to provide which brings us back to the health care issue. yes, something needs to be done in terms of reform in this country but when i face the Lord i don't want to tell Him that i let the government do what He wanted me to do leaving those the government helped physically lacking spiritually what eternally matters.
here's a quote from rich stearns, the ceo of world vision: "let me take some liberties and paraphrase these verses[matt 25:31-46] for today's reader: 'For I was hungry, while you had all you needed. I was thirsty, but you drank bottled water. I was a stranger, and you wanted me deported. I needed clothes, but you needed more clothes. I was sick, and you pointed out the behaviors that led to my sickness. I was in prison, and you said I was getting what I deserved.'"
and if the Church is the body responsible for providing for the poor, needy, orphans, widows, etc which yes, does include health care, then i have no place to judge or decide if it is a right or privilege or something the person deserves...no human deserves or does anything to earn salvation through Christ but He came, lived, died & rose despite all of that because He loves us unconditionally & selflessly took on our condemnation so i can experience the riches of a relationship with God, our Father.
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