I love TV medical dramas. When we were first married, Melissa and I faithfully watched ER every Thursday night. We made sure to have the kids in bed in time to sit down for our favorite show by 9 p.m. sharp. More recently we watched Chicago Med, Grey’s Anatomy, Pulse and, most recent, The Resident on Netflix. I love the energy and the fast pace of a modern hospital,
and marvel at the thought of a skilled doctor being the difference between life and death.

I love the shows, but I never wanted to be a doctor. For one thing, the length of time required to train to become a qualified physician just seems daunting to me. Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful for my doctor’s extensive training. But it takes a minimum of 13 years to become a surgeon with a subspecialty – cardio-thoracic, trauma, orthopedics, etc. – which means that a surgeon does not actually begin her career until the age of 35. For another thing, I’m not sure I want my career stakes to be quite so high. But lately, there is another reason. I suspect doctors spend much of their days frustrated because of us. Let’s face it, we all think we’re doctors.

You can’t turn on the TV for more than 15 minutes without seeing a commercial promoting some drug that essentially encourages us to self-diagnose whatever ails us. Ask your doctor about this medicine if you have these symptoms. If you’re experiencing this, this pill may be right for you. I wonder how many patients show up at their doctors’ offices asking for a specific medication before the physician has even examined them.

A couple of months ago, I heard a commercial on the radio, though, that took this phenomenon to a whole new level. The ad was promoting something called a home urgent care kit. There are several companies offering this product, and all of them are basically the same thing. It is a home kit that includes several types of prescription medications that you can take without the hassle of going to the doctor. Amoxicillin-Clavulanate, an antibiotic used to fight a variety of infections; Azithromycin, which is a generic Z-Pak used for treating the flu; Ivermectin, originally a
veterinary medicine that eventually was used in humans to treat river blindness and some believe
can relieve the symptoms of COVID; Fluconazole, an antifungal medication used to treat various fungal and yeast infections; and Fluconazole, an anti-nausea medication. And there are others.

All of these medications are only available with a doctor’s prescription. But they are included in
the in-home urgent care kit, so you can take them whenever you see fit. I’m guessing the way it
works is that you have an online consultation with one of the companies’ doctors, who then writes the prescriptions for drugs you may or may not currently need.

The allure of such a product is clear. I’m sick, but I don’t have to take the time or spend the money to see my doctor. I think I have the flu, so Azithromycin it is, and I am on the road to recovery! After all, my friend had the flu, and the doctor gave him a Z-Pak. Simple. Convenient.

That’s all well and good, I suppose, assuming I actually have the flu. Assuming I don’t have a sinus infection, which can be caused by a bacteria rather than a virus, which means I might need another antibiotic, rather than a Z-Pak. Oh, and there’s the fact that a Z-Pak doesn’t really treat the flu virus.

My guess is that the medication in the kit is of a low enough dosage as to prevent real harm if it is used incorrectly. But the whole thing really points to something more disturbing in our culture.

We think we don’t need anybody. We’ve got this. We can handle things ourselves, even the diagnosing of various illnesses.

We are becoming increasingly self-centered. We don’t want to be bothered with seeking help from someone else, even if that someone happens to be an expert. The internet, with sites like webmd.com, has led us all to believe we really don’t need doctors unless there is an emergency. And I fear sometimes our health ends up paying the price for our arrogance.

The truth is that we do need each other. As human beings, we are not meant to live in a vacuum,
but in community. We need experts in our lives – whether they be plumbers, auto mechanics,
attorneys or doctors – because our own expertise and experience only goes so far.

And as Christians, we need the church.

That’s the big one, I think, and the one that continues to stir debate. It’s easy to say, “I am a spiritual person. I don’t need the church to help me find God.” But the truth is that Christians need each other now more than ever. Christianity, at its very essence, is a team sport, not a solo endeavor. We need each other to stretch ourselves, to grow in our faith and to encourage each
other as we seek to live into the dream that God has for our lives. I shudder to think where I would be without the church. And when I say church, by the way, I don’t mean the institution. I mean a loving family of faith that welcomed me as a young man who had way more questions than I could answer. I suspect I would be a middle-aged man with the same questions, who
probably long ago gave up asking.

In short, I would be lost.

We need each other. That’s a fact. And it’s a fact we would do well to embrace. The Internet is a marvelous tool. It’s just not community.

See you Sunday.