Among the nursing staff, one often hears complaints from nurses who feel that they do all the work (injections, setting up IVs, administering medication, adjusting the patient in bed, continuous monitoring, etc.) while the doctor is content to make diagnoses and design treatment protocols that they themselves are sometimes able to do.
Similarly, general practitioners will complain about having to work full-time every day and be on call, while their specialist colleagues are only required to be on duty a few days a week and for a reduced amount of time.
But are such accusations justified?
Differentiated treatment in the workplace
In reality, a fact, a fundamental truth, underpins this system and makes it something just. The doctor is better paid and relatively spared not because he administers treatment for mild malaria, which even a nursing assistant would treat in a tropical environment.
The doctor receives preferential treatment and a higher salary because they are able to treat illnesses whose symptoms could mislead a healthcare professional without the appropriate training. They are paid and compensated for these cases, often few but real, where the situation is critical and requires their highest level of expertise.
The same applies to the specialist; certainly a general practitioner working in the same department as him could, over time, treat certain diseases of said specialty, but there will always come a time when only the true specialist will be able to manage the situation.
What is true in a hospital setting is also true in the corporate world between technicians and engineers, and between engineers and consultants. However, we will refrain from commenting on the extent of salary disparities, as this is not a trade union article, but a Christian one.
The disciple of Christ and the non-believer
“But where does this have to go with the Christian life?” one might ask. Upon closer examination, one could often wonder how the Christian life differs from that of non-Christians with regard to good works: all have families they love, all have jobs to provide for their needs…
Beyond the vocation, the purpose for which we now live and which defines the choice of our privileged activities as Christians (prayer, biblical reading, worship, evangelism, etc.), our life (as Christians) is easily distinguished from that of the non-believer when a time of crisis occurs.
Thus the Lord could assure that loving those who love us is nothing exceptional, there is no need to be a Christian for that; but loving one's enemy, that is proof of belonging to Christ.
“But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.
And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.
For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.
But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.”
On another occasion, he declared, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (John 13:35) And this love was evident in the early Church; many were willing to sell their possessions so that the proceeds could be distributed according to their needs. But our blindness, or worse, our malice, leads us today to say that this was a mistake made by the first disciples.
Who wouldn't agree to the sale of all assets within a family unit if it were necessary to save the life or restore the health of a member (of said family) suffering from a chronic illness? Who wouldn't sell all their own possessions to be saved from cancer?
But how can we claim that our brother in Christ is only our “brother” at church and that it all stops when it comes to our money? How can we say that we love our neighbor as ourselves but without being ready to spend everything to save his life?
We are speaking here of the principle, the question for us being to determine how far we have strayed from the path of Christ, we who claim to possess Knowledge today. And while the form things changed after the persecution, the principle remained the same: thus some (Corinthians) could participate in the collection to assist others (Jews of Jerusalem) [Acts 11:28-30; 1 Corinthians 16:1-4; 2 Corinthians 8:6-24].
Let us return to our theme. The proof, even for non-believers, that we are different from them will only be visible in our love for one another, we who affirm to be brothers in Christ, but also in our love for them, including when they have extremely unpleasant attitudes towards us.
Finally, our attitude in times of crisis will allow us to reassure our souls that we are truly children of God, as the apostle John affirms:
“Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.
He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.”
May God help us in times of crisis to seize the opportunity offered to us to glorify Him by showing love to our brothers and sisters in Christ, as well as to non-believers. And also to resist sin in all its forms.
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ!
Amen!
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