Why I'm scared to go to the doctor
I haven’t visited the doctor in over a year.
Almost a year ago I got married and went off of my parents health care plan.
I have health insurance, but for some reason I fear being sick now more than I ever have before.
I think the reality has set in for me that being sick costs money. I’d rather not pay a doctor right now to help fix me. I’m afraid of what it might cost (even in co-pays, etc.)
Now that fear isn’t really a rational fear. My wife and I have stable jobs that could cover the costs if needed, but for some reason the thought of needing to go to the doctor scares me!
It scares me so much that a few months ago when I got pretty sick I also started to feel that fear well up in me.
Is this bad enough?
Will I have to go to the doctor for this one?
The fear was almost as bad as the sickness.
I was scared to admit that I might need help because I knew it would cost me.
That’s how I started to understand this passage below.
Mark 2:15-17
15 Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.) 16 But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?”
17 When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
I wonder if the Pharisees and teachers of religious law knew deep down that they weren’t righteous, but were too afraid of what it might cost them to admit publicly that they were sick.
I also wonder how often we still fear admitting the fullness of our sickness, because we’re afraid of what it might cost us?
Jesus is a surprising and wonderful free gift, but having to admit your need for that free gift can sometimes seem like too high of a price to pay.
Why do you think admitting our need seems like such a high cost?
Almost a year ago I got married and went off of my parents health care plan.
I have health insurance, but for some reason I fear being sick now more than I ever have before.
I think the reality has set in for me that being sick costs money. I’d rather not pay a doctor right now to help fix me. I’m afraid of what it might cost (even in co-pays, etc.)
Now that fear isn’t really a rational fear. My wife and I have stable jobs that could cover the costs if needed, but for some reason the thought of needing to go to the doctor scares me!
It scares me so much that a few months ago when I got pretty sick I also started to feel that fear well up in me.
Is this bad enough?
Will I have to go to the doctor for this one?
The fear was almost as bad as the sickness.
I was scared to admit that I might need help because I knew it would cost me.
That’s how I started to understand this passage below.
Mark 2:15-17
15 Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.) 16 But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?”
17 When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
I wonder if the Pharisees and teachers of religious law knew deep down that they weren’t righteous, but were too afraid of what it might cost them to admit publicly that they were sick.
I also wonder how often we still fear admitting the fullness of our sickness, because we’re afraid of what it might cost us?
Jesus is a surprising and wonderful free gift, but having to admit your need for that free gift can sometimes seem like too high of a price to pay.
Why do you think admitting our need seems like such a high cost?
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