On August 21, 1996 the Health Insurance Portablility and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted. In the electronic age, when information can be passed to practically anyone anywhere with no one the wiser, this law set standards on what could and could not be shared and with whom. It was also a much broader beginning to health care reform which, for instance, ensured that individuals would be able to keep their health care between jobs. But most of us just know it as the Privacy Act.
I find the whole thing a bit ironic. Here we have new privacy laws in health care that regularly cause me all sorts of hassle in papers to sign, lists to make, and even waivers to write just so a doctor can use my experimental surgeries to help others, while at the same time people lay their lives open for anyone in the world to see on the internet.
We bemoan identity theft while giving the thieves all the access they need to steal it, and the burglars all the information they need to know when we won’t be home. We complain about intrusion of government and the possibility of our conversations and emails being monitored, but think nothing of leaving a detailed account of every activity, argument, and even romantic encounter for voyeurs everywhere. I have a Facebook page so I can see pictures of my grandson, not so everyone will know what I had for breakfast this morning. “Toast instead of cereal” is not an earth-shaking decision worthy of comment, or even “liking.”
And while we open our lives for the world, we have a singular aversion to opening it up for the brothers and sisters and elders God gave to help us. Christians do not have the right to privacy where their souls are concerned.
The elders are specifically told to watch out for the souls in their care. They are told that they will give account for those souls if they are lost. They cannot do their work if we insist on keeping secrets from them.
Brothers and sisters in the Lord are commanded to encourage, exhort, rebuke, train, admonish, restore, and support. How can they do that if we won’t ask for help when we need it?
I wonder how many marriages could have been saved before it was too late if the couple were not so adamant about their “right to privacy.” I wonder how many children might not have been lost to the world if struggling parents were not loathe to ask for advice. I wonder how many souls might have hung on if they had bared their hearts and reached out a hand for help.
Most of us willingly give up our privacy rights in health matters to ask for prayers. We share the smallest, goriest details of even the most mundane, routine procedures. Where are our priorities? A sick soul is much more serious than a sick body. Don’t be too proud or embarrassed to ask for help when you need it.
For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 1Th 5:9-14
Dene Ward
I find the whole thing a bit ironic. Here we have new privacy laws in health care that regularly cause me all sorts of hassle in papers to sign, lists to make, and even waivers to write just so a doctor can use my experimental surgeries to help others, while at the same time people lay their lives open for anyone in the world to see on the internet.
We bemoan identity theft while giving the thieves all the access they need to steal it, and the burglars all the information they need to know when we won’t be home. We complain about intrusion of government and the possibility of our conversations and emails being monitored, but think nothing of leaving a detailed account of every activity, argument, and even romantic encounter for voyeurs everywhere. I have a Facebook page so I can see pictures of my grandson, not so everyone will know what I had for breakfast this morning. “Toast instead of cereal” is not an earth-shaking decision worthy of comment, or even “liking.”
And while we open our lives for the world, we have a singular aversion to opening it up for the brothers and sisters and elders God gave to help us. Christians do not have the right to privacy where their souls are concerned.
The elders are specifically told to watch out for the souls in their care. They are told that they will give account for those souls if they are lost. They cannot do their work if we insist on keeping secrets from them.
Brothers and sisters in the Lord are commanded to encourage, exhort, rebuke, train, admonish, restore, and support. How can they do that if we won’t ask for help when we need it?
I wonder how many marriages could have been saved before it was too late if the couple were not so adamant about their “right to privacy.” I wonder how many children might not have been lost to the world if struggling parents were not loathe to ask for advice. I wonder how many souls might have hung on if they had bared their hearts and reached out a hand for help.
Most of us willingly give up our privacy rights in health matters to ask for prayers. We share the smallest, goriest details of even the most mundane, routine procedures. Where are our priorities? A sick soul is much more serious than a sick body. Don’t be too proud or embarrassed to ask for help when you need it.
For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 1Th 5:9-14
Dene Ward
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