Alright…not taking a side here butt his is funny.

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from FOD Team, Will Ferrell, Jon Hamm, Olivia Wilde, Thomas Lennon, Donald Faison, Linda Cardellini, Masi Oka, Ben Garant, Jordana Spiro, lauren, Drew, and chad_carter – Video.

I think it is safe to say that no one would say that our healthcare system is perfect. It has some really good points but it also has some really bad points as well. I have been reading a lot about this issue in the last couple of weeks and to be honest have really struggled to voice how I feel about the whole situation (the bill, the discussion/argument, the media involvement, the motivation…). I have had more moments of anger and frustration than I have had of insight. The whole thing sickens me at this point. I have wanted to follow up to my earlier questions about healthcare but I am yet to have the ability to write out a coherent flow of prose. So I have decided to just work out some thoughts in bullet points…warning they are really random.

*The system isn’t perfect thus it has areas that we can make better. So, a great question to me is how do we fix the weak points without compromising the strong points?

*The healthcare debate is no longer about doing the right thing. It is about winning and losing and neither side wants to lose and will do whatever it has to do to win. No group has the moral high ground at this point.

*Government run anything usually doesn’t go very well.

*It does frustrate me that we spend billions to fight abroad when we could channel that money toward fixing some of these internal issues and some external ones as well. This is not just a current problem. In reality this one has been brewing for a while as we have continued to be engaged in conflict since basically the late 60′s.

*There is radical inability for many people I know who have always lived in suburbia to grasp what healthcare is like in rural and I think even more in urban areas. I hear a lot of people talking and they have no frame of reference to what things are like in the urban centers where there are thousands upon thousands who do not have affordable open access to healthcare. You can’t just run down to the Vanderbilt clinic or over to Williamson Medical Center or to St. Francis. In the rural areas quality healthcare demands that you have a way to drive for miles and in the urban centers it demands that you wait forever because those who need vastly outnumber the providers who can give. MANY IN THE DISCUSSION DONT CONCEIVE THESE REALITIES. They just think about their little worlds.

*It is hard to know who to believe or trust when both sides have a history of dishonesty. Facts and stories are twisted at will and both sides are playing on our fears to get the results that they want.

*It is not the governments job to care for people. It is the churches, but on so many fronts we have forfeited our duties to the government and now we are reaping what we have sowed. (I’ll follow up with this at the bottom)

*Once again we are Christians first then Americans. We must have the heart of Jesus and when our wants come into disagreement with the heart of the savior, we must choose to look like Jesus even if it means I have to sacrifice or am made a little uncomfortable.

*It is unacceptable that in a country as wealthy as ours that anyone should not have open, fair and affordable healthcare. (remember the rural / urban thing here)

*Healthcare costs are out of control. If you don’t believe it, my Mom had an outpatient procedure done this year that entailed her going into the hospital around 5am and being gone by 1pm. The bill for the 8 hours of work was $150,000.

*Insurance costs are also out of hand. When I left TPC, Mer & I struggled to find affordable insurance. The best price we got for insurance that was comparable to what we had before was $1100/month (and this was just for her & me ….no kids included) Who can afford that? But you can’t afford to not have it either. We went for about 8 months with our fingers crossed and praying like heck because we just simply couldn’t afford it and even now our policy is not the best in the world.

*Providing healthcare is a moral/Christian imperative. There is no way around it. Jesus would want people to be provided for and cared for. I realize that I am in the minority in the following view. This means to me that if I have to give up some levels of convenience or choice to provide healthcare for the masses, I am ready to do that. Philippians 2 is quite clear that we are to humble ourselves and consider others more important. This may be one way that I have to do this.

*My friends that I talk to in England don’t see there healthcare system as nearly as poor as what it is being portrayed in America. They tell me a lot of what is being said and printed is rubbish. (and they were not born on the streets or denied vaccines as small children)

*A government or a nation will never do what Jesus would do. The idea of a Christian nation is a myth. With that being said, I think as a church we need to evaluate how we have contributed to this national issue by not taking care of those in our communities (members and non-members, churched and non-churched, believers and non-believers).

*We are our brothers keeper and maybe one of the lessons that we learn here is the idea of communal submission….in this case in our spending. We as believers don’t steward our resources with the community in mind. You are not given resources and wealth for you. The scriptures are clear that you are blessed to be a blessing. Do we live in such a way that we consider the needs of those in our communities before we use our money. An example…When was the last time you thought, “You know I shouldn’t buy that outfit because the Jones’ are tight on money and I may need to pitch in to help pay for some food or school supplies or maybe even for their utilities.” The beauty of the Acts 2 church is that they made Acts 2 commitments. They shared what they had. Our inability to share and take care of each other (GREED) has helped render us ineffective in this healthcare debate. The one group in all of humanity who should have something to say about bringing health to people has no moral high ground to stand on. We Christians, for the most part, are no different than our host nation, America, and we thus have contributed to this crisis. Deeply rooted in our story is the call to take what I have and steward it in a way where you are provided for. We do not live this way.

*I don’t feel like I have them mental capability to wrap my brain around how we right the ship at this point. Costs have to go down, premiums have to go down, everyone needs to have the ability to be treated without being wiped out financially. How do we make that happen?

Now…

*Since this discussion is in such disarray, is this the time for Christians to step forward and say…”We have a better way.”

*What could we as church communities do right now to help turn the tide, to change the discussion about healthcare in the USA. Could we lay aside our growth plans and building programs for some blessing campaigns where we take what’s in the offering box and use it to help those around us..not just to build our own little kingdoms. let’s do what jesus & the apostles & paul did. let’s pour ourselves into people not programs.

*Could we live so that people automatically look to us for help when they are sick or in need, much like the Christians who led in caring for the sick and injured in many catastrophes throughout history.

*I just got a comment on my Facebook from a friend saying that healthcare is the churches job not the governments. I agree, totally, but what do we do in a society where the church forfeits its duty in this area. I am willing to pick up the torch in my area and do the best I can to look like an Acts 2 church but what about those people who don’t have a church who will help? Do we just leave them out? I’m not sure you do. This is a hard one. While I’m for government being as small and powerless as possible, we have to protect life and dignity at conception, at birth, at death and everywhere in between. Today, government may be the only way to insure that. Not my first option, but it may be the only option as we have forfeited so much control to Washington.

*What is the Christian option? Is your Christian community strong enough that you don’t need insurance? Would your community care for you if you were sick and out of work and out of money. I hope so because that’s what real Christian communities do.

So with all of that being said, I am in no better position thinking about this than I was two weeks ago when I started. We need some changes but I’m not sure that I trust the system to do tit by I don’t know if there is another way.

My only real thought is this. Church, step up. Take up your role. Christians be followers of Christ first and Americans and consumers later. It’s time we took care of each other and left the rest of this fray to others to worry about. If we took care of our each other, our families, our neighbors then this whole argument would be moot and I would then have more time to focus on fantasy football and that my friends is much better expenditure of time

Peace ~

This phone call with other interviews leading in took place this afternoon. It has church leaders from around the country and President Obama speaks at the end for I guess about 10 minutes.

Listen in & let’s hear your thoughts?

*Remember to PLAY NICE.

*I will post my thoughts from all that many of you have sent me. I’m still trying to read through it all.

Peace ~