Well, that sounded a bit incredible, but when he got home we looked it up and sure enough! The site is ridiculously simple to use. You don't have to fill out any form or give them any information. Any US resident can use it, regardless of age or insurance status. Over 80% of American pharmacies accept it. You just print out a card, which looks something like this:
The next question was whether the card actually would work. Fortunately, Dad only picked up a few pills on Saturday, enough for Mom to try to see if she would have an adverse reaction to them. She tolerated the pills well, so on Monday he went back to Walmart to get a bunch more of them. He presented the card, and it cut the bill by about $20, which was about 10%. Amazing... and disconcerting! The more I thought about this, the more disturbed I became about our health care system. If you can get 10% (or more) off the cost of drugs just by having a free piece of paper, why not just give everyone the 10% discount?
Then I started wondering how many people think Jesus is like this card. They think God is an eccentric deity who charges a ridiculously high price (perfection) to get into heaven. But because He knows the price is too high, He offers a free "Jesus card" that gets anyone in. Sort of like a car dealer who inflates the sticker price so he can give you a "deal". Such a distorted view eventually makes God seem gimmicky for the "saved" and unjust to the "unsaved" (how could God send anyone to hell just for not having a "Jesus card"?).
How would you explain the real Jesus to someone who thinks He's a "pass card"?
On the flip side, to many people think Jesus is so cheap that they don't need the discount card. They believe that all they have to do is be a "good" person and that will get them into heaven.
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