Continuing our discussion of the health care system, with my former professor and colleague, Dr. David Jones, Emeritus Professor of Theology and Ethics, Covenant Theological Seminary …

PROBE: The universal consensus seems to be that healthcare costs far too much and occupies too large of a piece of our GDP. Again, there is wide variety of theories for why that is. Opinions I have heard include poor stewardship of our own health, a consumeristic or entitlement view of health care, middle management in the insurance industry, physicians’ charges, government bureaucracies, or interstate commerce laws that prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines. From your research, do have an opinion on why the costs are so high?

Response. Well, I haven’t researched it, but I’ve heard the same reasons you have, plus, of course, the cost of malpractice insurance and of unnecessary procedures to avoid lawsuits. Doubtless government involvement adds to the cost. But surely one reason health care in this country is expensive is the quality of care available. I’m thankful for those life-extending technologies as they have proven their usefulness to Covenant Seminary faculty. I don’t know how you determine what percentage is too high.

PROBE: A number of years ago you put me on to a book by Christine D. Pohl called Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999).  While it inspired me to read the history of Christianity’s pioneering efforts to care for body and soul in the name of Jesus Christ, it saddened me to realize how much the modern Church has ceded the holistic care of human beings to a health care industry. What do you think is the Church’s proper and possible role for caring for health needs?

Response: For the people of God, who are called to practice the truth as it is in Jesus, obviously health care is a priority for visiting the sick, i.e., taking effective action for their healing, is the same as visiting Christ (Mt 25:36). Some models are developing in our circles. See the current issue of byFaith. file:///Users/davidjones/Desktop/HealthCare-byFaith.webarchive and scroll down for the model of physician Phil Warren’s Good Samaritan Health Center in Atlanta (which you probably already know about). I heard today that Trinity PC in Charlottesville has its coterie of MDs working on how to address the issue of health care for the poor in the surrounding area.

PROBE: What are the individual Christian’s responsibilities?

Response: First, to care for oneself and one’s family. Beyond that, to participate in the diaconal ministry of the local body of Christ according to one’s gifts and abilities, and to respond to appeals by the denomination and other organizations such as World Vision, a long-time evangelical vehicle for mercy ministries, and Samaritan’s Purse with its in place global network for disaster relief.