Lux Lucet

“The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercised authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves.” With these words, Christ rebuked his quarreling disciples, who had been arguing among themselves about who should be considered the greatest.

This passage is key, not only for teaching Christians how ought to treat one another, but also for establishing a Christian theory of politics. The world taught that governments were the masters of their subjects. Kings were expected exercise “lordship” and “authority” over their people. That’s just the way it was, and the way it was supposed to be. To add insult to injury, these same ungodly and arrogant authorities wanted to be called “benefactors.” This was literally the case for several kings in the ancient world, who took the title “Euergetes” (Greek for “benefactor”) as part of their name.

The Christian theory of government is just the opposite. According to Christ, governments are not the masters of the people, but their servants. Governors are not to lord it over their people, but to serve their interests.

And just how is it that governments serve the interests of their people? The apostle Paul states the twofold purpose of government in Romans 13. The civil magistrate, according to Paul has two functions and two only: the praise of those who do good, and the punishment of those who practice evil. For these reasons, the magistrate bears the sword and citizens are rightfully taxed.

Not well, Paul does not say that governments are tasked with the job of providing old age pensions, medical care, parks, education, food, clothing, child care and the whole host of other functions deemed necessary by socialists of various stripes.

In short, the Bible’s position on government is that one, it is to be a servant, and two, it is to be limited. These concepts were well understood at the founding of the United States some two hundred plus years ago, but have been largely forgotten in the 21^st century. In the past eighty years, this nation has suffered the deleterious effects of the New Deal, the Great Society, and most recently Obama Care.

The US is not alone in its socialism. In fact, for all its flaws it is probably less socialist than many other Western nations. But even here, the trend is certainly not the friend of those who love liberty. Obama Care represents one of the most recent examples of the growth of government and the loss of liberty in the United States. Unauthorized by the restrictions placed on the federal government by the Constitution, certainly not meeting Paul’s limits of the praise of the good and the punishment of evil doers, the Affordable Care Act has been criticized by some as an impediment to actual health care, a gross intrusion into the private lives of the American people, and a positive danger to the lives. For those of this opinion (I’m one of them) the case of Charlie Gard from the UK is instructive.

Charlie Gard was born to parents Chris Gard and Connie Yates of west London on August 4, 2016. At just a few months of age, he was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition called encephalomopathic mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome (MDDS). The condition left Charlie with severe brain damage as well as damage to his heart, liver and kidneys.

Charlie was being treated at London’s Great Ormand Street Hospital (GOSH) where doctors, concluding that his condition was too advanced for an experimental treatment called nucleoside bypass therapy (NBT), decided that his life support should be switched off. His parents appealed to the High Court, which ruled in favor of the doctors. The ruling was upheld by Britain’s Supreme Court and later by the European Court.

An American hospital offered to treat Charlie, but funding was needed. His parents opened a GoFundMe page to raise the money to bring their son to the US and managed to raise even more than the $1.65 million needed for this purpose. But even though they had the money, they were forbidden to take their son to the US as a result of the High Court’s ruling, the terms of which did not allow Charlie to be transferred anywhere for treatment.

And this is really the rub: hospitals and courts stepping in to overrule the parents’ decision about what was best for their child. The Bible recognizes three areas of government: the state, the church and the family. The state, as we’ve discussed above, bears the power of the sword. The church, through its charge to preach the Gospel, bears the power of the keys. To the family is given the power of the rod. As long as each type of government sticks to its God appointed task, it does well. But problems come when governments overstep their proper bounds. And that’s exactly what has happened in the case of Charlie Gard.

No civil government has the rightful authority to prevent a family from seeking medical treatment for its children. And the decision of the hospital, part of Britain’s National Health Service, the High Court, the Supreme Court and the European Court to prevent Charlie Gard’s parents from seeking treatment for him in the US, treatment that was paid for by the voluntary donations through their GoFundMe site, represents a gross violation of the limits set by God on the power of the civil magistrate.

But it should come as no surprise that civil government insinuated itself into the case of Charlie Gard. After all, if the government is paying for his treatment – Great Britain has a single payer healthcare system of the sort many American socialists long to bring to this country – why should the government not have the final say in the granting or withholding of medical care? It’s simply an extension of that old principle “he who pays the piper calls the tune.”

This is one of the problems of socialism: by its very nature it invites civil government to intervene in areas that are properly matters of the family’s private judgment. Not that the socialists tell you this up front. No, they always sell socialism by telling the public they’re going to gets lots of free stuff – you can even keep your doctor! – while glossing over the fine print telling them they’ve sold their birthright of freedom for a mess of socialist, bureaucratic pottage.

And as if meting out a death sentence to Charlie weren’t enough, the hospital even tried to block a minister, one invited by Charlie’s parents, from praying with them at their son’s bedside.

Charlie Gard died on Friday. And in a final ironic twist, the hospital that helped bring about this sad state of affairs issued the following statement: Everyone at Great Ormond Street Hospital sends their heartfelt condolences to Charlie’s parents and loved ones at this very sad time.”

So the hospital that fought the parents in court to remove his life support, refused to allow the boy to be transported to another hospital even though the cost of treatment was being paid for by private donations, and attempted to bar minister from praying with the family finally, now that the child is dead, sends it condolences. Extraordinary. They lord it over the family and have the nerve to pretend they are benefactors. Not much has changed in two thousand years.