Healthcare has always been political, but in 2025 it feels personal. In recent weeks, Dr. Elisabeth Potter has gone viral for calling out the scamminess of American health insurance, and thousands have echoed her frustration. People are sharing how coverage that was supposed to protect them instead denied life-saving medications, buried them in debt or abandoned them when they needed it most.
Scroll through social media and it’s clear: insurance often isn’t protecting health. It’s making people sicker.
For Christians, the noise can be disorienting. Healthcare is tossed back and forth as a partisan talking point, but believers are called to a higher lens. The Gospel doesn’t bend to political platforms. Jesus was clear: Love God, love your neighbor. Or as Dr. Francis Collins has put it, “As people of faith, we need to re-anchor our worldview, not in political arguments or messages, but in biblical principles.”
Through that lens, healthcare is not optional. It’s central to what it means to live faithfully. Jeremiah 29:7 calls us to seek the good of the city. Micah 6:8 commands justice and mercy. Jesus himself said, “I was sick and you looked after me” (Matthew 25:36). Collins points out, “It’s interesting when you read the life of Christ how much of his time he spent healing the sick. There must have been a reason for that — he was modeling for us what it is we are intended to do by following his path.”
So what does loving our neighbor look like today? It means people shouldn’t die from an infection that a $10 antibiotic could stop. No one should choose between rent and insulin. Health shouldn’t be determined by a zip code. Yet research shows life expectancy can differ by nearly 20 years depending on whether you live in a wealthy or poor county. Less wealth equals worse health.
And it’s not because America lacks resources. This is one of the wealthiest nations in history. What we lack is the will to prioritize lives over politics. “So much of what we are currently seeing as far as human suffering and misery comes from diseases that should have been preventable but were not,” Collins has warned.
The human cost is staggering. Medical expenses remain one of the leading drivers of bankruptcy in the U.S. One unexpected diagnosis can wipe out savings or derail a child’s future. Galatians 6:2 calls Christians to carry one another’s burdens — and few burdens weigh heavier than healthcare.
Of course, solutions are complicated. Yes, we need to confront why healthcare costs so much. But we also need to ensure that getting sick doesn’t mean financial ruin. That requires collective responsibility, which makes people uneasy. No one likes paying into something they may never personally use. But if Christians believe everything we have is God’s gift, then money spent helping a neighbor isn’t wasted — it’s obedience.
This is where grace enters. Grace means every good thing — health, resources, even opportunity — is unearned. Collins once wrote, “The God of the Bible is also the God of the genome. He can be worshipped in the cathedral or in the laboratory. His creation is majestic, awesome, intricate and beautiful.” That truth reminds us that our health, like all of creation, is fragile and dependent on God. None of us chose the families we were born into, the bodies we inhabit or the privileges we enjoy.
Genesis says every person is made in the image of God. That means a child born into poverty is worth the same as a CEO. A refugee carries the same dignity as someone raised in privilege. Our current system, however, treats life as a commodity — the wealthy live longer, the poor die sooner. Scripture insists otherwise: all life has equal worth.
That makes healthcare a spiritual test. Will Christians love their neighbors enough to sacrifice some comfort so others can live? Will they see medical care not as a partisan wedge but as an opportunity to bear witness to God’s kingdom?
The Christian vision of healthcare isn’t about government mandates or partisan wins. It’s about living out Jesus’ command to heal the sick and care for the vulnerable. Letting people die because they can’t afford care isn’t just a policy failure. It’s a spiritual one.
Preventing disease, treating the sick and empowering healthier lives is not charity. It’s discipleship. In a culture where politics turns health into a battlefield, Christians are called to stand apart. Not for a party or a platform, but for the Gospel, which says plainly: Love your neighbor, even when it costs you.
