The Future of Healthcare

About this time last year CCHF recognized that something was likely to come out of Washington that would drastically change the face of healthcare in our nation. We knew it would have a huge impact on the way we view what we do, and on the way faith-driven clinics would direct their ministries. Prayerfully, we decided to make “The Future of Healthcare’ the theme of Conference 2010.

The healthcare reform bill was no surprise. We were surprised that it took as long as it did. We were surprised at how medical community, and specifically the faith-based medical community, seemed to be off guard the by the passage of the bill. And we were surprised by much of the dialogue that led up to the passage of the bill. Debate was strong and passionate. But not much of what was being said by either side was rooted in the Bible. At a time when our nation needed to hear a clear prophetic voice, most Christians just repeated what they were hearing in the news.

As Americans living in a democracy, we have the right to our opinions. We have the constitutionally protected freedom to hold partisan positions and to say what we think. I am grateful that we live in a country that defends those rights.

As ambassadors of Christ we have the opportunity and responsibility to speak on behalf of His government – the kingdom of God. The cross that we take up daily puts an end to our personal opinions and freedoms. We are God’s prophetic community. On the day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter defined the new era of Jesus’ post-resurrected exaltation as a time when Christ has begun His rule, and that His people would prophesy – men and women speaking with authority and conviction what they have heard from Him.

God’s prophetic people cannot side with partisan politics. When we line up with one side or another, we allow the world to label us – to put us into a box. They see us a subset of some larger group that can easily be dismissed. We become a voice in the choir, our influence drowned out in the din of political opinion. We become associated in the world’s eyes with people who express their narrow views in anger and hatred. Neither embraced nor persecuted, we are ignored.

That is not who we are designed to be. As one Christian leader put it, “We are not moving to the right, and we are not moving to the left. We are going deeper, and are committed to prophetically hold both sides accountable to the interests of God.”

Prophetic people are those who show up to the debate with a plumb line in their hand, to represent what God has shown in His word to be His indelible standard. Being a prophetic people requires that we be diligent in study and in prayer. We must seek the wisdom and will of God through examination of His word, through dialogue with God in prayer, and through the counsel of other prophetic Christians who are doing the same.

CCHF Conference 2010 takes up the issue of the Future of Healthcare on three levels. First, we understand that the future of healthcare in our nation lies in the next generation – Christian students and residents. So we want to consider how we can best envision, equip and empower that generation to be courageous leaders in medicine, and to advance the culture of our community so that it more clearly reflects Christ’s heart and will.

Secondly, we must talk practically about the immediate future – the next 5 to 10 years. Health reform is giving us the opportunity to reevaluate our mission statements, values and structures. We want to define the things that need to change and identify the things that need to remain the same. We need to dialogue and pray together about how our individual organizations and ministries are going to adjust in a reasoned Biblical response to the coming changes in primary care.

But thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, we need to recover a Biblical vision for the institution of medicine and specifically primary care. God cares about medicine and healthcare. The success or failure of any health system will be determined by how it does or does not reflect the will and character of God. Medicine is not a sovereign. As believers, we cannot afford to see ourselves as just a small part in this vast and powerful institution. Rather, as Christ’s ambassadors we are stewards, determined to make the community of healthcare the servant of Christ.

Personally, I don’t want to be one of those who merely criticize the system, pointing out its flaws. I want to be part of a community that speaks with prophetic clarity about a visionary system of medical care that embodies the attributes we see in Christ and His kingdom. But we cannot speak about what we have not seen. We will not see that for which we are not searching.

I am under no illusion that we can define the ultimate future of healthcare in 3 short days at this conference. But my hope is that we will recognize the destiny that we have to represent God’s mind regarding healthcare, and to dedicate ourselves to seeking Him together and talking about it.

It is going to take a movement. I am willing.