IT’S FEAR

Although our government would like us to believe that it is science that is driving its COVID policies, mandates, and restrictions, it’s not. Although conspiracy theorists would like us to believe it is a malevolent elitist group of individuals, it’s really not—at least not ultimately. It’s something much more primordial. It’s fear. Fear of death. At the very beginning of the pandemic, the forecast of possible millions of deaths resulted in draconian measures though the number of infected was at that time minuscule. And, the forecasts have proved basically correct. Millions have died. Close to six million. That is tragic. As a pastor, I have experienced folk’s loss of loved ones from COVID close up. I’m convinced it is unthinkably heartlessness to respond to people’s loss with diatribes against government intrusion and railings about conspiracies how “they” have taken COVID, which is “no worse than the common flu,” and misinterpreted, abused, and twisted the data, to present COVID as an awful plague. Reality is people have died. From COVID. Whatever other underlying issues, the point is, had there not been COVID, most of these would not have died. Without considering their coming across as heartless and compassionless, many political conservatives have denied or ignored these deaths and with boastful bravado bellowed that they have no fear of death by the virus. On the other hand, media and governments and those of a liberal political persuasion have used COVID deaths to capitalize on, play to, kindle and feed the fire of the fear of death to their own selfish ends--to gain power and control. Whether denied or used to malignant ends, the fear of death is a reality. Fear of death is not silly, groundless; Death is real. Death is something fearful. Death is an enemy, a thief, a cheat. It is the fear of death that compels a person with an almost zero chance of dying from COVID to get a vaccination and then a booster, and then another booster, and then another. It is the fear of death that causes someone, the only occupant in the car, to drive down the highway fully masked. It is the fear of death that causes folks without symptoms to line up in the cold shoulder to shoulder for hours to acquire a test for COVID—not considering a high possibility of contracting the virus while standing in line for a test. These do not just have a fear of death, they are in bondage to the fear of death. If you are human, you cannot fault the folks described above. However one tries to suppress it, whatever bravado one exhibits in deny having it, whoever boasts he is above and beyond it, the truth is the fear of death is inherent to us. We fear death. Perhaps, some to a much lesser extent than others. But, even if it is a mere apprehension, that is still fear of death. If nothing else, we fear death because we fear the unknown. The only substantive, evidence-based reason for not fearing death is faith in Jesus Christ. But I am ahead of myself. The greatest pandemic girdling our globe is not the virus, but the fear of death. It’s got a stranglehold on our world. This begs the question. If humans have always had this fear of death—and they have, why is there such heightened, exaggerated, phobic fear of death sweeping our world with the advent of COVID? I believe we can attribute this heightened fear to Darwinism and the cosmological theories of the universe’s origin that it later birthed. Generations have been taught Darwinism as an explanation for the origin of life (Darwinism is actually about the survival of life, not the origin). The unrelenting constancy of this teaching has eroded the Christian worldview of western societies. The preponderance of the populace today, because of embracing a non-God origin of our universe, is now naturalists. That doesn’t mean they like to take walks in nature. It means they believe the physical universe of matter and energy is all there is. If this is all there is and a human is just a collection of minerals and chemicals, then when one dies, that’s it. He is no more. Obliterated. Annihilated. Erased. He ceases to be. For all the protestations of some that this conclusion does not bother them, facing annihilation can only exponentially accentuate the inherent fear of death. You may question my insistence that the fear of death is ubiquitously inherent. But the reality is there has always been both a fear of death and bondage to that fear; it is contemporarily increased—despite how scientific or technologically advanced humanity has become. The Bible confirms this fear of death with a wonderful, liberating truth: Jesus came for the expressed purpose of destroying the one who has the power of death and to deliver all those who for fear of death spend their lives in bondage. (Heb. 2:14, 15). And, Jesus did just that. He defeated this enemy called death. He took away death's power. He beat it. We no longer need to be bound, debilitated, tormented by this fear of death. We often fear death because we’ve never crossed the threshold into that unknown. Simply, we’ve not been there. But Jesus has. He died. He’s been there. And, He’s come back--after He defeated death. He’s come back and said, “There’s life beyond that door.” If there’s life beyond that door, there’s also a reunion of those who believe in Jesus. Those who have lost loved ones can know in Christ those loved ones yet live! They can know that one day they can join those loved ones when they too die. Joyous reunion. Elucidating what I just said, the Apostle Paul shouted out, “O Death, hey, you there, Death. Where is your sting? And by the way, O Grave, where is your victory?” That’s our response to the fear of death. And that’s not bellicose bellowing bravado. That’s the truth! --Pastor Clifford Hurst