When a major civilizational shift occurs in a sudden, unexpected lurch, it’s easy for those living through the transition to focus on the negatives and miss the positives, especially when the negatives associated with the shift are – or at least seem to be in the moment – catastrophically bad. While the early stages of the Chinese Coronavirus pandemic through which we are now living have many markings of such a civilizational surge, we cannot know whether the clear trajectory that has been established will continue into the future.
In many ways, I sure hope not. The last thing I want to see is the physical suffering, death, and economic devastation associated with the early stages of the pandemic continue on along their predictable path of exponential growth and destruction. I hope and pray fervently that God will grace us with a reprieve, however undeserved it may be.
That said, even if the pandemic continues along its established path, it is no less a tool of the Lord than any other thing in His creation. As such, we should expect to find some very positive developments coming into focus as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic. Through all the irrationality, denial, fear, and economic carnage taking root in the land, there are also a great many beautiful and encouraging things emerging and taking root at the same time.
Put another way, the Coronavirus pandemic is yet another example of the all-encompassing and matchlessly inspiring truth of Romans 8:28-31 (emphasis added):
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
It’s in this context that I’d like to offer for your consideration, in no particular order (with the exception of saving the best and most important for last), 10 Positive Things Coming Through The Chinese Coronavirus Pandemic:
- Decentralization will intensify. – While there’s no doubt that the currently (and temporarily) ruling elites atop existing political and economic systems will do everything that they can to use the pandemic to promote tighter controls and the elimination of more freedom and liberty for individuals, the pressure pushing in the opposite direction will be too much for the forces of centralization and collectivism to handle.
. - There will be a resurgence of personal- and community-level responsibility and preparedness – Individual and community level preparedness and self-sufficiency are, as a direct result of this pandemic, going to experience a massive surge in popularity and, more importantly, application as we move forward, amplified greatly by the decentralizing power of the Internet, personal computers (smart phones included), and various other technologies that God has raised up in recent decades. Where before the pandemic it was common to see basic, responsible personal preparation labeled as “fearful” or “panicky”, many of those who disparaged and discouraged such preparation back in February and on into March will, when this whole thing is over, be certain to have at least a couple months’ worth of essentials on hand. That’s a very good change.
. - Innovation will be unleashed. – Treatments for Chinese Coronavirus will be developed and, Lord willing, a cure will be found thanks to the creative genius of Image Bearers of God being unshackled (at least partially) from the ludicrously massive beurocratic and political systems that normally hold them down. Innovation will also be inspired and launched out of necessity on many fronts as people are forced to operate as adults separated from the many Big Government systems are normally able to prevent them from fully interacting with the real world, thereby preventing them from becoming fully functional adults no longer in need (or believing themselves to be in need) of Big Government.
. - Wokeness, Political Correctness, and Snowflake Culture will be further marginalized. – Thanks to the Chinese Coronavirus pandemic, the already fast-fading Woke, PC, and Snowflake/Crybully subcultures will continue to shrink in significance, but at an accelerated rate. Nothing puts their suicidally stupid brand of idiocy into perspective like a real-world pandemic.
. - Statism will be further exposed as the threat that it is. – Communist China may be the most egregious member of the Big Government camp in this case, but statism in general is being revealed as one of the greatest threats to the health, prosperity, and liberty of humanity. The more we critically examine the Big Government handling of this pandemic, the more we will see that Big Government was not only the source of the pandemic (Communist China), but has also been its escort throughout the world (see: The United States, Italy, Spain, Iran, France, and the United Kingdom, as but a few examples). Big Government does not recognize, much less respect or value, people as individual Image Bearers of God. Big Government views people as cattle – mere “human resources” – to be fed upon and manipulated to meet the needs of Big Government.
. - Corporate/Statist centralized media will continue to see its credibility erode. From militantly downplaying, mocking, and suppressing news of the seriousness of Chinese Coronavirus in the beginning (January/February) to going crazy with the hype machine approach and using the now-undeniable threat of the virus to advance its pet political agendas, dinosaur/zombie media will be even further marginalized and more openly recognized as the Orwellian farce that it’s become.
. - We’re all homeschoolers now. That reality is one of the most terrifying (to the bad guys) aspects of this whole thing. State programming of the minds of the young is an essential component of the Big Government system in all of its flavors, from China to Germany to the United States. If only a moderate percentage of those forced into a home education model decide to question the State line on government-managed indoctrination of the young, that will be a huge blow to a system that is already teetering on the brink. If just 5% of those who have been forced to remove their children from State-run indoctrination centers decide to keep them out of that system after the pandemic fades, the State’s power to influence the future by programming the minds of the young will be seriously eroded. How cool is that?!
. - Long outdated brick-and-mortar approaches to things like education will finally be recognized as the liability that they’ve become. Shipping children off on busses to distant massive buildings managed by even more massive bureaucracies has aleays been a bad idea, but this sudden and likely long-lasting interruption will inspire many to finally question the approach that they had been encouraged to uncritically assume as legitimate for their entire lives. This same shock/wake-up call will also impact many other product and service distribution models. While there will be short-term and sometimes serious pain for many business models impacted by this shock (which I do not wish to minimize and am not happy about), future generations will greatly benefit from radical revisions to education, business, and economics in a manner that more accurately and productively aligns with the real world as it actually exists.
. - There will be a focused surge in support of certain existing local businesses while a wave of new local business are born. Ordering take-out from a local restaraunt that you can’t visit the way that you used to so that you can help #FlattenTheCurve is one great example of the sort of thoughful, focused support that we should be striving to model and promote. Launching a delivery service of some sort is one example of the sort of local business opportunities that will be recognized and capitalized on in the wake of the pandemic.
. - We will have one more opportunity to repent, believe, and be saved. For all of the great opportunities that are arising from the wreckage in these early stages of the pandemic, none of them can even begin to compare with the undeserved opportunity that we have been given to repent, believe, and submit to Christ as King. We have been begging for the wrath of God for a very long time, and one of the surest signs that it is upon us is that…we dare not even mention the wrath of God in the context of things like pandemics.
Seriously. Think about that.
How many reports or analyses of the pandemic even vaguely acknowledge or hint at God’s role and purpose in it all? Very few, at best.
Yet we witness millions of pleas, prayers, and even sermons for God’s deliverance and salvation, but rarely, if ever, a peep about our desperate need to repent of our open, ongoing rebellion against His crystal clear Word. Why? Because we want Jesus as Savior while we reject Him as Lord.
King Jesus doesn’t play that game.
His Gospel command is not a request.
The consequences of rejecting Him as King are not small. They are massive; literally all- and everything-encompassing.
Each and every one of us should be thinking about these fundamental truths as we try to chart a way forward through the pandemic that He is perfectly using to accomplish His purposes in His creation.
Is repentance at the core of our response to this plague? Or is it not?
May God grace us all with the desire to test ourselves by the light of His Nature as revealed in His Word so that we might repent, believe, and submit to Christ as King in every area of life, all by His grace, all for His glory, and all for our benefit.
(See also: Want to see America in Scripture? Try Psalm 2.)
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Stupid Elephant Tricks – The Other Progressive Party’s War on Christianity takes a painful but much needed look at how Christ-less “conservatism” has captivated Christians and co-opted them into helping march the culture ever deeper into darkness:
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The Beginning of Knowledge: Christ as Truth in Apologetics is an approachable, easy to read introduction to Christ-centered apologetics:
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Apathetic Christianity: The Zombie Religion of American Churchianity explores the tragic true horror story of all-American dead religion masquerading as Christianity:
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On Education is a compilation of some of the most provocative and compelling Fire Breathing Christian articles on the subject of children’s education:
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Fire Breathing Christians – The Common Believer’s Call to Reformation, Revival, and Revolution is the book that first presented the FBC mission to apply the Gospel-fueled Great Commission in every realm of God’s creation:
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Intro to Fire: The Power and Purpose of the Common Believer
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And especially this one: Never forget that apart from God’s grace you and I are complete morons.
