Stephen McDowell

The Corona Virus Outbreak? What is going on?

Regarding the corona virus outbreak, has the world gone mad responding to an irresponsible media-induced, irrational fear, or are they responding in the great wisdom of man and in so doing taking action that will save themselves from devastating pestilence, or are they taking the biblical steps necessary to combat the challenge that comes from living in this fallen world?

Two brief thoughts:

1. I am glad the world is following biblical medical principles of cleanliness, sanitation, and quarantine.

For most of history, man ignored these and suffered greatly through many diseases, pestilences, and afflictions. These have devastated mankind many times, none as bad as the bubonic plague in the mid-14th century which killed one-third to one-half of Europe (tens of millions of people).

It was a Christian doctor, Joseph Lister, who discovered why God presented these principles thousands of years before. He discovered that germs cause sickness and infection, and then found a way to kill these germs, and consequently, led the way for saving millions upon millions of lives. You can read his story here:

https://providencefoundation.com/transforming-medicine-and-business/

With that being said, something is not right about the extreme response of many governments.

2. I am concerned that the long-term unintended consequences of the present draconian actions – fueled by exaggerated fear-based media reporting – will likely result in more deaths and hardships by disrupting (and destroying) economies throughout the world.

If personal and national economies are disrupted or ruined, millions of people will directly or indirectly die or face great hardship over time – from the poor who are dependent upon the generous help of others, to the inability of many needy to have access to capital necessary to empower them to meet their needs and advance, to the loss of current income by many temporarily forced out of work, to many older folks whose retirement investments (that are being hit hard with the falling stock market and disruption of the economy) are needed to meet their basic needs, to the disruption of the exchange of good and services that are vital to many people, to the lack that will impact many. For now, it is very difficult to see and measure these long-term negative effects.

Added to this is the grave consequences of big government assuming more control over the lives of people. The potential loss of liberty and economic well-being is immeasurable. At this time, much action that some governments have taken is far beyond what is merited by the circumstances.

Why are the nations responding this way with this particular virus? Why did they not take similar action with recent previous new viruses? Or with the various strands of flu that kill and affect exponentially more people every year? The answer is related to these questions.

What caused this outbreak? And what is governing the response? It could be a number of things. Pestilence is a normal part of the fallen world; the devil is likely involved as he seeks to kill, steal, and destroy; sinful man brings on troubles through disobedience; and secular man uses many opportunities to advance his own purposes. In addition, God Himself often uses such things to accomplish his purposes. Any or all of these can be factors, and precise answers are not currently clear.

But some of the steps we can take are clear.

Pray with authority. God through Christ has given us authority over sickness and disease. We can repent of our sins, personal and corporate, and exercise the authority Jesus gave the church. President Trump’s call for pray is a good step. See his proclamation here:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/proclamation-national-day-prayer-americans-affected-coronavirus-pandemic-national-response-efforts/

Ask for godly wisdom to rightly apply His biblical medical principles for this pestilence. Especially pray for wisdom for our civil leaders to act decisively, yet with great restraint for the least long-term negative effect on the economy.

Do not respond in fear or get caught up in the fear-stoked media coverage. See this in light of all the historic pestilences and diseases, where this is certainly much less dangerous than many other outbreaks.

We should respond in the confident faith we have in Christ, where His work and truth have overcome Satan and the negative effects of sin in the world.