Please take some time to pray for us as a church, as a people, in the midst of this Coronavirus “moment.” So much of the enemy’s work is to isolate people, then attack them. This virus threatens to do that. Pray for our ongoing bond in Christ. I encourage the elders and deacons to be active in your shepherding groups, caring for the elderly specifically. And since the at-risk age groups are limited, I encourage you to come to worship. This Sunday we ordain and install new officers — brothers committing themselves to service in Christ. Below are some thoughts on the moment, including a reflection on the disproportionate value now placed on earthly life in an age of diminishing transcendent faith.
There seems to be a relatively high level of ambiguity when it comes to the Coronavirus. In the U.S. alone, an “ordinary” flu season may result in tens of thousands of deaths. It’s estimated that around 50,000 people died in the U.S. in the 2003-04 flu season. This “novel” Coronavirus (Coronaviruses have been known and under study for decades), has so far taken just over 3,000 lives worldwide, though it has been active, as far as anyone knows, since December. That makes it seem minor by comparison. Of course, it doesn’t even register when compared to the 1918 flu pandemic which may have killed as many as 30 million people, perhaps many more.
So what’s happening? The 24-hour news cycle, which is now more like a 6-hour news cycle, is a beast that must be fed, and something like the Coronavirus is a kind of feast: mysterious beginnings, shrouded in governmental secrecy at first, spreading rapidly and killing, threatening you and your family in the near future. It’s a news producer’s dream come true. It’s always good to remember that the “news,” whether it leans left or right, is not driven by what the citizenry must know, but by the need to have something to sell. In this way, a significant percentage of the news is fake news — it’s created to feed a market.
Here’s a quote from Wikipedia on the 24-hour news cycle: “In their book Warp Speed: America in the Age of Mixed Media, [the authors write] ‘the press has moved toward sensationalism, entertainment, and opinion’ and away from traditional values of verification, proportion, relevance, depth, and quality of interpretation. They fear these values will be replaced by a “journalism of assertion” which de-emphasizes whether a claim is valid and encourages putting a claim into the arena of public discussion as quickly as possible.”
Finally, it’s good to remember we now live in the day of the “inviolable self.” In this culture, human beings have largely replaced God as ultimate beings. For those who knew God, say 150 years ago, it was highly offensive that he be dishonored. At the very least, people paid lip-service to the idea, knowing that if there was a God he was worthy of honor. It’s now the case that relatively few Christians are troubled if God is dishonored. His throne has been taken over by the individual, the inviolable self. Especially in the media, it’s now unthinkable that any human being should be offended, let alone killed. When there is no transcendent reality, no God who transcends this world, no ultimate life that follows this one, earthly life becomes everything. Therefore, the Coronavirus threatens everything.
To the Coronavirus — and all other threats — we say, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea.” And to our own hearts the Lord says, “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”