Unlike Paul (cf. 2 Cor. 5:6-10), Americans prefer not to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. Instead, we make it our goal to be at home in the body here as long as possible, at whatever cost. We might even take the unduplicated body parts of others, while at an advanced age ourselves, in order to be at home in the body a while longer.
As horrific as it may sound, Paul indicated a godly form of utility. “For I know that this will turn out for my salvation through prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith." (Phil. 1:19-25).
Paul knew he was expendable in God's service.
Pro-life people are rightly afraid of any utilitarian ethic. The intrinsic value of human beings may be replaced by devaluation of the deformed, old, ill, or mentally retarded. The fact that we have utility in God's service does not open to us an ethical means to waste our life or someone else's. We are not privy to God's overall plan. We cannot always know what He is using us to accomplish. An utterly helpless person may be the instrument by which God is teaching others love, gentleness, patience, kindness, sharing or many other virtues. However, if we recall that we are being used by Him, it will help us guard against fencing ourselves with too much preventive effort.
It is inconsistent to sing "Onward Christian Soldiers" while seeking the safety of the rear ranks. We can get hurt up front, but heading for the rear is not the right kind of health maintenance. Whereas God is indeed pro-life, He is most assuredly not pro-life above all other requirements. For example, He does not forbid capital punishment or just wars, though some who have made pro-life their central value oppose these in an effort to be consistent.
The apostle Paul took into account his utility in spreading the gospel. "We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you." (2 Cor. 4:10-12)
Risking death that others might receive the second birth unto eternal life implied risk of illness due, among other things, to malnutrition and exposure. He recounts some of his sufferings in 2 Cor. 6:4 and 1 Cor. 4:10, 11. He utilized his physical body in the calling he had received. He used it up, not accounting his intrinsic value as something to be placed above the use of it in God's service. (1 Cor. 9:27) As he admonished Timothy to endure hardship in his work of evangelism, he clearly portrays this attitude of utility: "For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." (2 Tim. 4:6, 7)
Excerpt from "How Would God Have Us Practice Preventive Medicine?"
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