Christian Worldview Concepts

Church Based Medicine

Effects of a Christian Model of Health Care

Church-based medical ministry, conducted from an explicitly biblical philosophy of ministry, represents one important strategy for resisting the secularization of individuals and families. It connects immediate felt needs (i.e., medical needs) with medical services that are faith-based, morality-oriented and address the needs of the whole person within the context of the biblical pattern for marriage and family.

Church-based medical ministry not only resists secularizing influences; it enables believers to resist the government monopoly on "compassion." Since the initial days of the "New Deal" under President Franklin Roosevelt, society's concept of caring and compassion has come to be viewed as the domain of government-funded bureaucracies. Government entities such as the U.S. Congress, Supreme Court and Social Services departments have taken it upon themselves to define for the rest of society what qualifies as compassion. The professions of social worker, public health worker and educator have come to rely largely on government support for their financial survival.