Pragmatism

The Bible is neither impractical nor silent on the practice of medicine. What is truly impractical is a philosophy of pragmatism. What is true is not determined by observing that it serves our purposes over a span of a few years.


Excerpt from "Impractical Pragmatism"

Owe No Man

Rom. 13:8 “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.”

The debts here are not limited to financial ones, though clearly inclusive of them. The context indicates that we are to “pay” respect to those to whom it is due, honor to those to whom it is due, etc. “Owe no man” is not a moral commandment but, rather, a goal in service to wisdom. The Old Testament sets up rules of the relationship between debtors and creditors. These rules are not rules on how to sin properly, but how to manage indebtedness wisely and fairly.

Chiseling Out a Christian Culture

Culture is religion acted out, not merely an ethically neutral set of tastes in diet, dress, and dance.

If revival starts with the church, one thing we could do from our side would be to inculcate amongst ourselves an understanding of what Christian culture would look like. That way, we would be less apt to follow the pied pipers whose analyses of this or that problem are superficial at best, if not badly wrong. We might be able here and there to work out our salvation chipping away at the monstrous incubus on our land. Ultimately, only God can revive and deliver us, but I believe He expects us to have some knowledge in our head and a chisel in our hand.


Excerpt from a personal letter

The Church's Moral Authority

The church’s authority is moral. The church does not spank or issue fines or imprison. It disciplines, theoretically, by persuasion, by example, by compassionate action, by preaching and teaching, and by exclusion from fellowship and office. As much as conservative Christians have clucked about erosion of morality, it is odd that we have not ourselves heeded or developed the moral authority of the Church. Have you ever heard of a dispute being adjudicated by the church?


Excerpt from "Trusting God or Trusting Ourselves"

God's Law

The moral law of God is perpetual. It has not been overthrown by Christ, but fulfilled by Him. Though since the fall of our race into sin, we have never been able to keep the law, we remained accountable to it and Christ fulfilled it on our behalf as the second Adam.

Excerpt from "Spurgeon on the Law of God"

A Person, Not a "Risk"

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 says, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” Later in 1 Corinthians, we are reminded that we are “not [our] own” and that we are “bought at a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). In the book of the Revelation, we are told that there is a judgment of all.

A managed care organization may regard its subscribers as a number, an account, or some other kind of cipher, but we know them as persons with faces, who have certain habits (like showing up drunk or two minutes before closing time, or trying to get one child's medicine on another child's Medicaid). To the insurer, they are simply “a risk” which can be managed by the averaging power of large numbers in a policy-holding group. No one in Insurance Command Central is answerable before God for the health of the insurance policyholders. Those of us who know the patient can remind the patients of their personal responsibility. When the occasion permits, which in these days is, I think, rather rare, we should remind our patients.


Excerpt from "Pharmacy and Medical Interventions"

Serving Individuals

The persons we serve are individuals. The story of Joseph in the Old Testament is not the story of Joseph of Arimathea in the New Testament. God does not deal with us by simple diagrammable rules. Though He is operating according to His immutable nature, in which we can discern principles, He is doing so by engagement with the rich, intimate details of our personality. Matthew is called from his tax extortion and Zacchaeus from a tree. Peter is called from fishing for fish to fishing for men. Paul, who thought he could see sin clearly, is called in blindness from a murderous trip and sent on missionary trips. There is a sameness in the call, but also wonderful differences in its particular administration.


Excerpt from "Pharmacy and Medical Interventions"