Last week I was in
Ethics Interviewer (EI): “When somebody comes to you with an obvious moral dilemma do you relate it immediately to biblical principles?”
Christian Family Physician (CFP): Yes, I follow 2 Timothy, which is a great mentoring verse, “...the things you have heard from me pass on…” (2 Timothy 1:13) There’s really nothing new, we are not called to be creative but faithful to the revealed Word. I am not there to be creative in how we fix this person’s problem, I have no real wisdom of my own. I say to them, ‘You are in a very difficult situation, may I share with you the anchor point I would use in this situation?’ And it will be from a biblical point of view. I have never had anybody turn me down.
EI: “But we do come from two different rationalities or two different starting points, the person who is in deep moral trouble is at a different starting point than you, and until they see that, its hard for them to understand what you are saying.”
CFP: “Its hard to speak in generalities can you give me an example?”
EI: “If you are talking about abortion the person going for the abortion is focused on their happiness, they don’t see the eternal importance of the baby, its something that’s not occurred to them, so they pursue the route of abortion because that will make their happiness that much greater, whereas, the person who has an eternal perspective would see the eternal importance of the baby.”
CFP: “Right, so I would see my role there to try and introduce the biblical concept to them. Most of them come in an absolute panic mode. So I would talk to them about the folly of compounding an already bad situation by acting in haste and acting in panic and living with an eternal regret which they do.
For example, I say, ‘Your seventeen now but when you are thirty five and in your mind you are wondering about the eighteenth birthday of this child that you aborted. I don’t want you to be making such a rash decision that you have to live with for the rest of your life, so can we just take a step back and just contemplate where we are at now and just put the panic aside for a little bit and see that there are other alternatives. Can I share with you an anchor point in my life that I think could be an anchor point for your life?’
I always seek permission. I say, ‘You may want to talk to other people. Right now I would like you to consider something different. Can I talk to you about that?”
EI: “I used to work in a crisis pregnancy centre. The doctors who sent us patients gave no counseling. It was really difficult when clients had no counseling from their physician for such a situation.”
CFP: “Normally there is remorse. There is a recognition that they have gone too far. In their gut they know this is not good. And I think its our job to turn that around. I see it as an opportunity for us to do the panic verses peace route. This stems out of where these trials come from in the first place. If you embrace a sovereign God, a God who brings us to circumstances, who uses our sinful actions to take us to a place where like David, the man after God’s own heart, sin is used to mold him and shape his character.
So we can say sovereignly they have a choice, they can play the hot potato with the problem. Go for relief. They want to put this hot potato down, so they only give the Lord only one option. “Oh, Oh, Lord, you've got to take this from me! Take these circumstances away from me!”
Or you can take the peaceful route (the biblical route), which says give thanks in all circumstances. (1 Thessalonians 5:18) Putting yourself in their shoes you can say, ‘I may not understand why I am experiencing this stress, but this is my current reality. I have been brought to it by the Lord. What can I learn from it? What is the purpose of this trial? How do I glorify God as I go through this trial?’
That’s why you can take two people and put them through the same trial, one is a basket case, the other is peaceful about it. There is a different way of thinking in embracing it.
You can talk to them about the fact that without going through a trial how could they ever learn patience, courage, endurance, the value of people, of family and of friends unless they are tested in those areas.
So you can say, ‘God has sent this into your life for purposes that you may not be aware of right now. Accept it and lets see how God can work all things together for good for those that love him.” (Romans 8:28)
EI: You are in a position of authority and you have to be really careful not to impose your belief system on your patients. How do you handle that, for example, when a patient presents with an unexpected pregnancy and you must offer them Amniocentesis?
CFP: I always tell them that this is where things would lead and I talk to them about triple screening, which is a blood test that you do to predict if the baby has Downs Syndrome or Spina bifida .
I say, “That in these situations I usually run across three different kinds of women. First, there is the woman who says ‘Absolutely I will have an abortion therefor I want the test.’ Second, there is the woman who says, ‘No, I would never abort but I want to know’ Then, there is the third one who says, ‘You know I would never abort and I don’t want to know because my friend went through this and she had a positive test and it ruined her pregnancy and the child turned out fine.’ Which category are you, because I have to tell you your options?”
The key is as long as the patient does not feel bullied, as long as you have a relationship with them and they know what you stand for, because its got to be there already in the way you conduct your practice, I think we can be very bold, in a very tasteful and respectful way.
Give them glimpses of light. If you show somebody a big light you blind them, so simply give them glimpses of light and pray for them and let the Lord do the work!”
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http://technorati.com/tag/Abortion,
http://technorati.com/tag/prolife,
http://technorati.com/tag/ethics
