Federal entitlement spending is not the equivalent of Christian charity, and when Governors John Kasich and Asa Hutchinson make such claims, they are spreading something worse than bad policy. They are spreading bad theology.
The parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew (25:31-46) is an oft-quoted story. Political liberals, who otherwise avoid any connection between religion and politics, are especially fond of quoting Christ’s admonition, “As you did it to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.”
Republican governors of Ohio and Arkansas have invoked this parable to defend expanding Medicaid to include working-age adults without children and disabilities.
But, as with most such appeals, this one is at odds with both politics and piety, though there is certainly a fair amount of self-satisfaction in it.
Two thousand years ago, these words literally helped change the world:
“For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you took me in;I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.”
Today they are used as a political joke.
In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is not speaking to a group of voters about a government agency, but to individuals. The expectation of Christian love for one’s neighbor is just that, an individual, not a collective responsibility.
It’s significant to remember that no matter what you think about your health care policy, Kasich and Hutchinson are wrong on this central doctrinal issue.
“When you die and meet St. Peter, he probably won’t ask you what you did to keep the government in line” Kasich said“But he’ll ask you what you’ve done for the poor. You better have a good answer.”
In other words, opponents of Medicaid expansion will go to hell Because they are not willing to do something for the “least of these.” But that turns Christian doctrine upside down. It is not good works that get you to heaven, but salvation by grace. It is grace that inspires or spiritually compels good works. And grace is given to individuals, not groups of people or nations.
This is a common mistake, but politicians who claim to be experts on the Gospel should not make it publicly.
So bad politics breeds bad theology. And then bad words follow.
It is generous if you give your own money or goods to the impoverished. It is not “generous” to spend other people’s money on the impoverished. According to the circumstances, it may be wise or unwise, thrifty or fiscally foolish, or even simply right or wrong. But if words are to have any meaning, it is not generous.
Apart from the fact that Medicaid is it’s not a very effective way to aid impoverished people get health careJudging whether your neighbor deserves heaven (doesn’t someone else already have THAT job?) is not an effective method of winning friends or influencing voters.
It all comes down to the deep need of too many politicians to be loved by all the right people – those who despise political appeals to religion by those with whom they disagree but never shy away from them when it serves their own purposes.
So those who are going straight to hell for opposing Medicaid expansion, or for supporting immigration enforcement, or for supporting the death penalty, take heart: “It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”—1 Corinthians 13:7.
And if you’re going to apply Christian doctrine to sell your political views, at least make sure you understand them.
