Socialized Medicine and the Parable of the Talents

Many who want to socialize medicine and other aspects of American life and turn them over to government control have found themselves teachers who are willing to tell them what their itching ears want to hear. These ‘teachers’ say that our Christianity requires us to go along with this socialist agenda for the sake of the poor and needy.

One quick question: What do you do with the parable of the talents? In the parable of the talents God reprimanded the wicked lazy servant who hid his talent and refused to do anything with it. What he had was taken from him and given to the servant who was busy using his talent in a way his master was pleased with. Socialism does the opposite: It rewards the wicked, lazy servant by taking from those who are working diligently and giving what they’ve earned to those unwilling to work. That doesn't mean that every poor person is a lazy person, but there's no question that many fall into that category! If a person is disabled and can't provide for himself, I have no problem with a portion of my tax dollars going to help him. The truth is, my tithe dollars are already going to help many, many poor and needy people - and this is the Biblical context for helping the poor!

There’s no question that Christianity obligates us to help the poor. But there is nothing in the Bible that would suggest that assisting the poor should be something regulated by the government. You cannot regulate benevolence. It is an act of compassion motivated by God’s love.

The truth is, much of the poor in America have healthcare provided to them through charitable organizations, hospitals and clinics. Is it on par with the medical care others in this country have access to through health insurance policies or private wealth? No, but it is typically head and shoulders above any ‘health care’ provided in socialist nations. I’ve been there. I’ve seen their socialist health care system and believe me – We don’t want that in America!

Meeting Luke

I call this blog "Mile Markers." If life is a journey, then these things I write about are the mile markers that give me perspective on where I am on that journey. One of the things that mark the miles on a personal journey best is the birth of a new family member. Especially the arrival of a baby from the 'next' generation. This week my family and I traveled to north Louisiana to meet that mile marker. His name is Luke. He is the son of my parent's first grandchild, Adrian and his wife Jessica. I had the honor of performing Adrian and Jessica's wedding a few years ago and now God has blessed them with a beautiful little baby boy. We're so proud for them!

In many ways, Adrian's own arrival seems just like yesterday - Yet here he is now with a child of his own. This makes me a Great Uncle. (In a genealogical sense I mean - No, I'm not bragging!) This also brings me one step closer to becoming a grandpa. (Wow - that sounds weird!)

Adrian was the typical first grandchild: Spoiled and celebrated and in like fashion we all had a wonderful time passing around little Luke this weekend. We all took our turns holding him and feeding him and getting our bearing on where we are on this journey through an extremely cute little mile marker named Luke. Congratulations Adrian and Jess! There is nothing on this journey I have enjoyed more than raising my children and I know you are going to enjoy little Luke so much!

Stones

Stones - They play a big role in God’s story. When God did something significant in the lives of people in the Old Testament, they would take stones and build a monument with them, memorializing forever what God had done. Remember the woman caught in adultery in the gospel? The law said she was to be stoned to death, and the religious leaders were more than ready to comply. However, when Jesus invited any one of them without sin to start the process, each of their stones soon fell to the ground. Then there’s the discussion between Jesus and Peter where Christ actually called him a stone. He clarified that Peter was a small stone in the story, but that Jesus Himself was the strong stone foundation of the church that the gates of hell would not prevail against. Of course the most infamous stone in the Bible was the one rolled against the mouth of the tomb that held the body of Jesus after His crucifixion. Through our message series in April at Crossroad's Church we’ll discover what these stones mean to us today.

Did We Ask For This?

I'm sure you've heard about the controversy and recalls taking place with Toyota cars where the accelerator sticks causing horrible accidents and panic. When I first heard about this I thought, "That's awful, but if it happened to me I would just throw the car into neutral!" Maybe you can't think that practically when your car is racing away with you.

Today it occurred to me that this is the very thing that happens in life some times. The accelerator gets stuck and life goes racing away with you. So many of us find ourselves in a panic, not knowing what to do! The answers seems so obvious to those who aren't in the same vehicle we find ourselves in. Today, maybe it's time to throw things in neutral. Pull off to the side of the road long enough to let God fix what's gone wrong. If we don't then there's a very good chance we're gonna crash and burn and we won't be able to blame it on anyone but ourselves. After all, like Toyota's original slogan said - "You asked for it, you got it."