Explaining Health Care Reform & “Christian” Reflections Thereof [REPOST]
Can the common man understand this health care debate? Is there a particularly Christian perspective on health care? Also, a curious and unexpected memorial to Ted Kennedy. Read on.
[Editor's Note: This is a repost of an article posted in August. It was fairly popular at the time, and in light of the potential difficulties the current health care bill may be facing due to the fight for Senator Kennedy's Senate seat, I thought it might be helpful to post this up again. I'm also posting this to go along with a recent post I put up on my personal blog called "I sort of want this health care bill to die." It has to do with this Massachusetts's Senate race and health care reform. I hope these resources spur your thoughts on these issues facing our country.]
Below is a series of illustrations by Dan Roam and Dr. Tony Jones of Digital Roam explaining the current Health Care system and proposed reforms to that system. This is by far the best explanation I’ve seen. So much so, it is forcing me to break a bunch of my own rules concerning this site and perhaps even give some new freedoms for what I post up here. Take a few moments and look through this series of slides and familiarize yourself with these ideas. Analysis will follow below. A couple of things before you start: I have no idea why this guy calls these “napkins” nor do I know why he says there are only four. Don’t let that distract you too much. The quality is such that I am more than willing to forgive these minor lapses of clarity.
Turning the T.U.L.I.P. On Its Side
Can the classic Five-Points of Calvinism, notorious for inspiring complacency and judgmentalism, actually cause relationships that are gracious, self-sacrificing, and long-suffering?
by Stephen Hess
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[Editor's Note: For those unfamiliar with the historical Five-Points of Calvinism (a.k.a. "TULIP"), click here for a quick guide, or here for a full article on it]
At Chapel time recently (every Tuesday and Friday at Covenant), I got the privilege to hear from Dr. Robert Petterson, a Covenant graduate and the Senior Pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Naples, FL. Out of John 13:34-35, he gave a message entitled, “Turning the Tulip on Its Side: The Sociology of Soteriology.” This was the first chapel message for the year (my first ever as a Covenant student). This message was perfectly timed for me (and I am sure, for many others). Not to mention the passage that Pastor Petterson focused on was the biblical motivation for myself and four (then five) other brothers in Christ to meet together in college weekly. To this day, despite the changes over time and the different post-college locations, these guys are still my closest brothers in Christ.
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)
Pastor Petterson’s main point: A soteriology of grace without a sociology of grace is illusionary.
In other words, “turning the TULIP on its side.” The biblical soteriology of Reformed theology is often captured in the acrostic TULIP. Dr. Petterson described the five truths in these ways: (1) there’s not a single molecule of my being that is not corrupted by sin, (2) God has chosen to love me unconditionally, (3) he loves me specifically, (4) his love for me is irresistible, and (5) his love will persevere to the end.
When Jesus says, “so you must love one another,” he is saying that it is not enough to have a vertical relationship with God. That same love relationship must become horizontal in the same way with others.
After such rich beautiful description of this soteriology, he went on to explain about an angry, old Dutch Calvinist that he recently counseled. This man had memorized the five points as a child in catechism classes. He would pound anyone who would listen with the doctrines of Sovereign Grace. But this man had been estranged from his daughter for over five years. His wife could barely tolerate him–they slept in separate rooms. And he kept blowing through churches that weren’t reformed enough for him–creating controversy all along the way.
(more…)
Explaining Health Care Reform & “Christian” Reflections Thereof
Can the common man understand this health care debate? Is there a particularly Christian perspective on health care? Also, a curious and unexpected memorial to Ted Kennedy. Read on.
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Okay, everyone up to speed now? So are there any uniquely Christian thoughts on this? First, of immediate concern for those Christians whose consciences are so inclined to view abortion as a fundamentally political and legislative issue (no sarcasm in that statement, by the way; it’s a totally valid way that the Holy Spirit moves in many believers); in Obama’s most recent weekly address, as he “debunks” various ideas being spread about the reform, he says: “Some are also saying that coverage for abortions would be mandated under reform. Also false. When it comes to the current ban on using tax dollars for abortions, nothing will change under reform.” So apparently (at least from what the carefully phrased political talk) it would seem that these sets of reform do not concern abortion.
So with the one health issue it seems Christians have anything to say something about out of the way (yeah, there was some sarcasm in that one), what else does the Christian have to engage with in this debate? Well, before we get quite there, two foundational things that have plagued my thinking about this:
Let’s play: “Guess Who’s Doctrinal Statement?”
Given just the “Core Doctrines” of a Church, can we evaluate its true Orthodoxy and faithfulness?
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Okay, we’re going to a play a little game I like to call “Guess Whose Doctrinal Statement.” I’ll give you the doctrinal statement of a popular American Church and you all try and think whose it is. Then we’ll reveal the answer and talk about it. Everyone ready?
Okay, here’s the doctrinal statement:
- WE BELIEVE…the entire Bible is inspired by God, without error and the authority on which we base our faith, conduct and doctrine.
- WE BELIEVE…in one God who exists in three distinct persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came to this earth as Savior of the world.
- WE BELIEVE…Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood for our sins. We believe that salvation is found by placing our faith in what Jesus did for us on the cross. We believe Jesus rose from the dead and is coming again.
- WE BELIEVE…water baptism is a symbol of the cleansing power of the blood of Christ and a testimony to our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
- WE BELIEVE…in the regular taking of Communion as an act of remembering what the Lord Jesus did for us on the cross.
- WE BELIEVE…every believer should be in a growing relationship with Jesus by obeying God’s Word, yielding to the Holy Spirit and by being conformed to the image of Christ.
- WE BELIEVE…as children of God, we are overcomers and more than conquerors and God intends for each of us to experience the abundant life He has in store for us.
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So whose doctrinal statement do you think it is? Is it:
- a. Mars Hill Church (Mark Driscoll)
- b. Bethlehem Baptist Church (John Piper)
- c. Lakewood Church (Joel Osteen)
- d. Mars Hill Bible Church (Rob Bell)
- e. The Village Church (Matt Chandler)
- f. Westboro Baptist Church (Fred Phelps)
- g. None of the above
and the winner is . . . found here.
So what do we do with this?
The New York Times on Mark Driscoll
At Reform & Revive, I try to offer only original content, but this was something I couldn’t pass up. A friend and fellow “Westminsterian”, Art Boulet, put a post up on his blog a few days ago containing an article about Mark Driscoll that appeared in the New York Times. I found both the article and the discussion that followed in the comments section fascinating.
