He looked frail. His body bent over from a degenerative bone disease. The walker suggested an age beyond his forty-something years. His tee shirt did little to hide the patch and tubes used for dialysis for kidney failure. Yet the smile on his face and the interest in the world around him said he was ready to embrace whatever life he had left.
After talking about fishing, shooting, and living, he asked, “I know the Bible is against suicide, but what about deciding to stop medical treatments? I go through dialysis three days a week, but if I stopped doing it, I would probably die in about ten days. Would it be wrong to stop treatments?” I said, “No, it wouldn’t be wrong.”
God’s Providence
Some religious people think all medical treatments are sinful because they reveal a lack of faith in God. They refuse life-saving surgeries and blood transfusion and other treatments. However, God usually heals people through providence by allowing researchers and doctors to develop treatments for ailments, injuries, and diseases. He allows sick people to seek medical attention.
Decisions
However, this does not mean sick people must seek medical treatment. Patients should weigh the treatment with its side effects against quality of life or the potential for healing. Those are personal and family decisions, and sometimes the decision may be to let nature take its course. Christians should not feel guilty for refusing artificial means to prolong life. There is a difference between suicide and refusing treatment. One actively takes a life. The other allows the disease or injury to reach its natural conclusion.
Other principles enter the equation, but those are considerations for decisions to be made. The overall principle is God provides medical treatments, but people can choose which treatments they desire to take and which to leave behind. That is stewardship of the body.
Preaching Minister