For the reader who may have conservative Christian friends or neighbors:
There is a line that goes, “Don’t worry if the world hates you because of Christ; worry if the world hates Christ because of you.”
I look around today, and I see that an awful lot of non-Christians are hating on the Christian Church (especially the part of it that is loosely called Evangelical) because they cannot understand why any Christian would oppose the creation of a healthcare system that serves everybody in America.
Honestly, I understand their bewilderment, because here’s the way it looks to me: it looks as though some Christians (not all, but many) think that Biblical principles only matter in terms of church-related activities, so it doesn’t even occur to them to wonder what the Bible says about politics. Other Christians do seek to apply the Scriptures to all of life (as they should), but appear to interpret the Scriptures with a predetermined end in mind, rather than allowing the Bible to just say what it says. They carefully pick and choose those Biblical passages that seem to support—or can be made to support—what they want to believe, while ignoring any passages which suggest a different conclusion.
That’s the only explanation I can think of for the willingness of some Christians to accept—and even defend—the idea that it is God’s will for people who lack money to die of curable illnesses. After all (some argue), the Bible does say “Thou shalt not steal,” and many Christians define taxation as “stealing.” In a truly just and Christian society (they also seem to be saying), it is God’s will that we not steal from a rich man to save a poor man’s life. Protecting the ownership of money is, apparently, more important than preserving life.
What does the Bible actually say? Well, to begin with, the idea of taking money away from well-off people and giving it to poor people is not only approved by God, it is commanded for those who follow Christ. So, right from the start it is established that the only discussion is about how much to take from the well-off, not whether to.
How much money does God tell us to appropriate for poor relief? No specific figure is given. Jesus once said “Render to Caesar that which is Caesar’s” (thus giving approval to the idea of taxation), but He never said how much to give. Caesar determined that amount for himself, which he arrived out without consulting the Law of Moses regarding the tithes. Caesar was a “Gentile,” as were most Christians within a few years of Christ’s Resurrection, so, while the Law of Moses can give us Gentile Christians useful background information, it does not give specific laws for us to follow. As concerns secular government, we are free to make what we believe are good choices based on New Testament principles.
But. . .there are those who insist that the American Constitution was intended to prohibit the federal government from dispensing money to individual citizens for the relief of poverty or natural disaster. If you are not yet familiar with this idea, Google “not yours to give” for more information. This theory is totally secular in origin, with no basis in any Biblical principle, and yet it shows up in Christian literature as though the Bible supported it. The Bible does no such thing. Individual Americans are perfectly free to have the opinion that the federal government should not be involved in “charity,” but there is nothing in the plain language of either the Bible or the Constitution to require such a view, and much in the Bible that plainly contradicts it. Therefore, anybody who self-describes as a “Bible-believing Christian” ought to be in favor of helping the poor, and certainly ought to be against favoring the rich to the detriment of the poor.
But what does the Bible require of Christians? Very little in the way of law, but much in the way of love and mercy. In fact, James specifically writes that “mercy (grace, love) triumphs over judgment (condemnation, law),” and if we define “love” in the simplest possible way—choosing to do things which benefit others, while refraining from actions which harm them—then I feel pretty strongly that a Christian society would be one where no person would ever be denied medical care through inability to pay. Now, I realize that America is a secular rather than specifically Christian society, but as a Christian individual I approve of my government actively working to improve citizens’ access to healthcare. Nothing in the Bible discourages me from doing that, and much encourages me to.