God created man to work.  The primary command of God in the Garden was to multiply and subdue the earth.  Take away a man’s tools and you rob him of his joy in protecting and providing for his family and home.  Take away a man’s work and you take away his life.  Risking a productive economy for dubious medical models may turn out to be the worst disaster of all. 

I recently heard a respected epidemiologist say that eventually everyone will get covid-19.  Whether this is true or not, I certainly do not have the medical expertise to pass judgment. But looking at the virulent contagion of the virus, I tend to think that he is correct.

Apart from some new and quick scientific discovery, we need to think in terms of an uptick in the spread of the disease after we begin to reopen the economy. Social distancing and masks have reduced the spread of the virus short-term, but in the long-term I fear that these mitigation practices have only delayed the inevitable—numerous more cases and also additional deaths for the most vulnerable. Expect another spike in the curve.  Also, expect an increase in depression and suicide.

God created man to work.  The primary command of God in the Garden was to multiply and subdue the earth.  Take away a man’s tools and you rob him of his joy in protecting and providing for his family and home.  Take away a man’s work and you take away his life.  Risking a productive economy for dubious medical models may turn out to be the worst disaster of all.

However, the good news is that 98% of those who contract covid-19 will recover.  Some commercial entities may have to curtail their activity, but eventually, after a God-given immunity is developed among their employees, these going concerns will be able to recover with time.  God’s grace to man of granting immunity after contracting a disease (even after the fall of man in the Garden) is still our best hope.

The other 2% who are the most vulnerable may need to continue their sheltering.  Those beyond 70 years of age and having numerous underlying medical conditions like myself, fall into the high-risk category.  I may have to hunker down for a while.

A question!  Will we be able to mentally and spiritually survive this second reign of fear?  A few weeks off from work with government paychecks substituting for our regular income will help many Americans get through the first crisis. The government is throwing out helicopter money at an alarming rate. The SBA has run out of money and needs more.  A second crisis may very well put us into a Great Depression.  At this present rate of printing money, eventually our dollars will become worthless.

However, the greatest opportunity for Christian ministry and evangelism may be ahead of us.  Americans are basically existential materialists.  Our culture is the result of decades of teaching that we are the product of evolution and chance (all in the name of science).  We find definitive meaning in the present only and we believe that personal happiness and pleasure are the ultimate goals of life. Death is something we don’t think about.  It’s not real for most Americans. We live in a culture of denial.

Not only that, we also have the notion that if God exists, He exists to help us attain what we want.  He owes us a good life because we are Americans.  In addition, a good life is our constitutional right. Because medicine and technology have improved our standard of living, we have turned to them alone for the answer to this and almost every other need.  Because they have been good to us, we have made idols out of them.  Science without God is our salvation.

America has not yet been brought to her knees.  Only a second crisis may do that. If that happens, then every Christian should be prepared to proclaim the whole counsel of God and the hope we have in Christ.

Larry E. Ball is a retired minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and is now a CPA. He lives in Kingsport, Tennessee.