Thoughts on the Pandemic

1. Limits of historical perspective

There is a lot of comparison to history going on: “the Spanish flu killed millions in 1918, and we’re shutting down over less than 100 dead in the whole country?”  There may be some truth to the fact that we are freaked out by much less severe troubles than our forebears.  But we also know far more medically now than we did in 1918.  Capitol Hill Baptist Church, where Mark Dever pastors, last canceled a worship service in 1918 for that flu, and just did so for this Sunday.  Not because they think it’s as severe a plague – it isn’t yet – but to keep it from becoming one.  We are shutting down, not out of irrational panic, but to lower the total number of people needing medical care now or in the immediate future.  Then we won’t have to ration medical care as severely if it gets worse.  They didn’t understand this in 1918.

2. Politics

The politics of this have been quite awful, from Pelosi trying to get abortion funding in an emergency bill, to Biden criticizing Trump for his handling of things.  Pointing out the virus started in China is apparently xenophobic now.  That’s crazy, especially given their current threats to not send us medical supplies.  Whether the media has overblown this to hand Trump a politically damaging blow doesn’t matter much if we focus on the CDC instead of Fox or CNN.  Can the populace do that?  I hope so.  Too many conservatives downplayed this early on, to defend Trump, just as Xi did in China, I think.

3. Political systems

Balancing freedom and responsibility is an important theme in this situation.  Nations tend to be covered in the news all the same: “America has locked down as China did” is quite misleading.  Some nations give autocratic directives, but others recommend actions to their citizens.  We are the latter, and that is an important difference, even if we wind up behaving similarly.  Freedom does not disappear in this situation, but it’s more appropriate to protect social health.  Even freedom-loving libertarians are admitting currently that a case like this warrants governmental action.  It is a time to focus on our responsibility to the public, more than on what we have a right to do.  It isn’t time for an objection that the state is overstepping its bounds, until they criminalize rational behavior without warrant.

4. Preparing

Preparing for possible problems is not panic.  An abundance of caution is not panic, though it may be going too far.  Scoffers label those who make any changes as wrongfully fearful.  But the situation really is such that changes are helpful to public health.  The biggest one for me personally right now is that if I have even a mild cold, I shouldn’t go to church, even if the service depends on me.  This is something I’ve heard from every public health agency, and I accept the change, in an emergency like this.

5. Preparing ignorantly

Of course, we can prepare misguidedly when there are so many unknowns.  I don’t understand the toilet paper run: I expect the market to make up for the shortage within 7-14 days (maybe a month?) and a normal supply lasts longer than that.  Doesn’t it?

6. Preparing responsibly

With so many unknowns, the idea of boundaries becomes very important.  Where does your responsibility end, and someone else’s picks up?  When does that line move, in a pandemic?  A week ago, I would have said, anyone with a mild cold shouldn’t feel bad about going to church.  Today I’m rethinking that.  The risk is higher for others.  But then again, for higher-risk folks, it is also their responsibility to avoid that kind of situation.  Wouldn’t it be better to keep holding essential meetings, like worship services (!), and just have fewer, asymptomatic people there?  But then again, many probably (maybe?) have the virus or are carrying it, without showing any symptoms.  Or we’re just getting more people sick than need to be.  Hm.

7. Preparing for church

As far as church services go, it is not irresponsible to keep holding services at this point, though this could change.  But we are firmly into the realm where canceling is not irrational panic.  We have left the realm of, “We’re having church, and you should come.”  A church can hold services without enjoining their members to come, leaving the decision with each individual, whether to attend or not.

8. Panic and Providence

Panic is losing sight of God’s providence over all this, forgetting that all things work together for the good of those who love Him.  There are all kinds of lessons modern Christians can learn from this: to be more thoughtful of loving our neighbor hygienically, the priority of worship and community in times of trouble, that we don’t have 100% control over their health like we often think, and so on.  I also don’t rule out God dealing judgmentally on the nations through this, though I’d want to avoid specifics.  These things humble and tear down towers of Babel people set up in their minds, geopolitically.  This kind of thing happened in the early 20^th century, with WWI, then the Spanish flu, the Titanic, etc.  The excitement of social progress and manifest destiny in the late 1800s came to a crashing halt, but instead of returning to God, we turned to disillusioned decadence in the roaring twenties.

9. Prayer

This leads us to pray.  Our president declared a national day of prayer on March 15.  Whatever his own reasons for doing so, it is right and fitting to humble ourselves, and admit our dependence on Him.  MORE than we depend on sanitary health practices and a competent CDC, we need God to have mercy on us.

Heavenly Father, You move every atom, germ, and virus on this globe as You see fit.  We confess our anxiety to You in this global pandemic, and we ask You to draw us near to You in trust.  Give officials competence and speed to get data into the right hands, develop vaccines, and discover patterns and cures.  Help Vice President Pence to lead his team well, and for he and president Trump to communicate clearly and consistently with us what we need to know.  Give us patience with one another as believers and as citizens, when we have differing opinions about all this.  Finally - and we admit it is hard for us to see this connection – glorify Your Son Jesus Christ through all of this.  Because He sits on the throne, ruling the course of nations, plagues, thoughts, and armies.  For Yours is the Kingdom, the power and the glory forever, Amen.

Martin Luther's pastoral advice during the Black Plague:

"I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance inflict and pollute others and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me however I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely as stated above. See this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God."
—Martin Luther, Works v. 43, p. 132. Letter "Whether one may flee from a Deadly Plague" written to Rev. Dr. John Hess