Thursday, October 1, 2009 4:11 PM CDT
Clergy Views: The Christian should lead the way in health care reform
By DR. DON SELVIDGE, MINISTER, Northside Church of Christ, Mattoon
Our nation has its eyes focused on the debate in Congress about health care.
Modern health care is expensive. If under-insured or uninsured, or fully insured with huge co-pays, the system is unaffordable to millions of Americans.
The church, whose members have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus and are a “peculiar people,” definitely has something vital to say in this debate. We cannot merely follow our culture, but must lead the way to a real health care solution.
Most authorities agree that 80 to 90 percent of all diseases that afflict us is in this country are lifestyle mediated. This means these diseases are caused by how we live — eat, sleep, work, deal with stress, exercise, and so forth.
These lifestyle diseases include heart disorders, cancer (in many cases), digestive disorders, skin conditions, arthritis, infections, respiratory disease, and so forth.
Christians should be the healthiest people in the world. They abstain from sinful lusts; believe it is wrong to harm the body, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit; handle stress by giving their troubles to God; and live lives of moderation.
Yet there seems to be little difference in the health of the Christian and the non-Christian.
I suggest we get back to the simple and inexpensive basics of caring for the body God gave us. Nothing is more basic than considering how God designed the body, and living our lives in harmony with this design.
The body was not designed to stay healthy on damaged, processed food, loaded with chemicals, and devoid of fiber. These foods are popular in our culture because they look, smell and taste good, and they are profitable to sell.
Regular consumption is a sure way to poor health, high health care expenses, and a premature death.
As a boy, I remember the men gathering outside the church building to have a smoke in between Sunday school and worship services. As they learned how destructive smoking is to health, most Christians stopped smoking and those who did not stop would not smoke openly at church.
I hope the day will come that we will realize how destructive white sugar, white flour and fried foods are, so that they will never be seen on a church potluck table.
The only food served will nourish the temple of the Holy Spirit, rather than destroy it.
The body was designed by God with an enormous ability to stay healthy and heal itself.
We must give the body a chance (it may take longer than a pill that masks the symptoms) to do its amazing work. We need to be certain that the drugs we take and surgeries we have performed do not interfere with the body’s innate healing capacity.
I am not saying that Christians will never get sick, or that every sickness is our own fault, and that God cannot work his purposes through illness. I do believe when we treat the body as God intended, sickness will be the exception rather than the rule. It will not take extraordinary and expensive medical care to keep us healthy.
The prophet said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”
I believe the average Christian does not do better because they do not know better. There is too much distorted information, often from vested interests, that a person does not know what to believe.
Our dear, sweet sisters in Christ, with all due respect, must learn healthy ways to prepare food that does not harm us.
We need to make it easier to obtain chemical-free foods grown in a manner that promotes health. Exercise and fitness programs need to be promoted. We do not become obsessed with earthly health, but we certainly encourage it.
Finally, when it is time to die, which will come for all of us, let us refuse heroic efforts to prolong our lives regardless of potential benefits.
For the Christian, death is not the end but the beginning.
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