Repression, Recession & Redemption
Photo by Ashkan Forouzani on Unsplash
“Come and see the violence inherent in the system! Help, help, I’m being repressed!” Thus goes the famous line from Monty Python and the Holy Grail when the peasant, Dennis, yells at King Arthur who is angrily shaking him, demanding his silence.
Though the United States government has not yet physically shaken citizens about, demanding their compliance and silence, many Americans are feeling as if they had. As news of the coronavirus continues every day, confusion spreads, and quarantines continue. Workers are laid off, churches are kept from gathering, and people are going stir-crazy. Confined to the home and socially isolated, depression increases in people created for community with others.
At the same time, the state of New York struggles to maintain their hospitals while caring for the infected, with some hospital workers fearing for their own and their families’ safety and well-being. Other states have hospitals that are practically empty and employees are being furloughed. Small business owners stagger in the tidal wave that is COVID-19, wondering how they will make ends meet for the foreseeable future with their businesses shut down. Others plan to protest the quarantine by re-opening their businesses; still others remain frightened of this virus.
The words “recession” and “great depression” are quickly becoming part of the nomenclature of news outlets and concerned citizens as the world prepares for the worst. The questions must be asked then: Are Americans (and the citizens of other free countries for that matter) being repressed by their government? Are we looking at another recession? And, most of all, where is there any hope to be found?
Speaking for at least the US, it seems safe to say that as of right now, for the most part, the supposed repression is really just the concerted, albeit confused, efforts of leaders to protect the American people. This means Americans need to carefully watch what the government is doing, day-to-day. COVID-19 is often called the “novel coronavirus,” because health care officials and scientists simply have not encountered this disease before. Even now, at the time of this writing, we are only a couple of months in. Health care workers and scientists are doing their best to deal with this disease.
Politicians, on the other hand, are not trained in biology – at least most are not. Some are truly doing the best they can with the information they are given. When the coronavirus is compared to something like the great influenza of 1918, where nearly a quarter of the world’s population (around 500 million people) were infected, and estimates of those deceased ranged anywhere from 17 million to 100 million people, politicians and world leaders are left at the mercy of suggestions of health care officials. No one wants a repeat of 1918. Then there are some, likely many, who see this as an opportunity to deepen partisan lines, exert greater influence in their political party, and make the other side look as bad as possible.
Courtesy of Flickr
Others, the true leaders, are not thinking in terms of political ground to be gained but are truly concerned for the well-being of the people they have sworn to protect. In many ways, when so much confusion surrounds the coronavirus while it is still being compared to some of the worst plagues in history, the fear of our leaders is somewhat understandable. Sinful people (all of us, make no mistake about that) react fearfully when confronted with the unknown and often erratically when confronted with their own mortality.
So, are leaders repressing their people? Some citizens are being subdued by force, forced to stay at home, shut down their small businesses if deemed nonessential, and avoid gatherings of ten or more. Some report that churches are exempt and still technically allowed to gather, yet many churches have chosen to respect the orders and shut down, citing Scripture like Romans 13. In the state of Pennsylvania, masks are being made mandatory as of Sunday night at 8pm on April 19, 2020. Other states with mandatory masks include Maryland, New Jersey, and New York.
Do any of these actions, restrictions, requirements, or suggestions suggest repression or oppression? Yes and no. We must be careful not to cry “wolf” when there isn’t one and save those alerts for when the wolves really do come. Headlines like LifeNews.com’s Steven Ertlet’s Church Members Fined $500 Each for Attending “Drive-In” Service, But Abortion Clinics Can Still Kill Babies make it clear that something is obviously amiss, but Kelly Shackelfold’s article later in the week reported an update to the story with the title Church Where Members Were Fined $500 Each Can Continue “Drive-In” Services After Suing City.
In just a few days, the religious liberty of Christians in Mississippi was brought into question. Are Christians free to gather and worship? The question was quickly settled with an affirmative, ‘Yes’, Christians are still protected by constitutional rights of religious liberty. For conservatives, the issue lies in the question of whether or not our freedoms are slowly eroding, being stripped away one day at a time. Though they certainly seem to be, again, a cut-and-dry answer does not seem possible at this point. The safest answer seems to be this:
“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience.” (Romans 13:1-5 ESV).
Paul wrote this during a time when government officials and rulers regularly sought the death of Christians. There is something to be learned here.
Nonetheless, the clear teaching of Scripture is to obey our leaders, unless they contradict God’s commandments. In Acts 5:27-32 (ESV), Luke records, “And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in [Jesus’] name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”
We now turn our attention to the idea of a recession, or even another great depression. Is there any evidence that we are facing another financial collapse or crisis? Unfortunately, the answer seems to be: Probably. Mark Niquette and Jennifer Jacobs for the Washington Post report, “Funds for the $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, to keep workers on payrolls have been exhausted, the SBA said on Thursday. And money also has lapsed for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, or EIDL, offering government loans and emergency grants of as much as $10,000.”
The democratic hold up of these emergency loans and grants from the government and the partisan fighting are only the beginning. Good economic sense tells us that the stimulus aid, short-term welfare and unemployment aid, and countless other aid expenses will eventually be exhausted. With national debt in the US at nearly $24 1/2 trillion, it is clear something will eventually give. With businesses shut down, importing and exporting suffering, and countless layoffs occurring, the economy cannot begin to improve. The likelihood of a recession is ever increasing.
So, in the midst of what could turn to full-fledged government oppression and repression, a very likely recession, and what may rightfully be called a modern-day plague, where do Americans, and the world for that matter, turn for hope? Interestingly, we can learn from the Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo. As New York experiences a slight reprieve in coronavirus cases, Samuel Smith for the Christian Post reports Cuomo said, “’God did not do that. Faith did not do that. Destiny did not do that… A lot of pain and suffering did that.’”
What can we learn from this statement? Primarily, we learn that the foolishness of this world is to reject the grace of God, even when He is actively working before them. In effect, we learn to believe the opposite of what Cuomo stated; God is very much at work and He is the only hope any of us have. (Acts 12:23, by the way, gives a horrifying warning to those leaders who do not give God the glory. Herod, who took God’s glory for himself, is struck by God with disease and eaten by worms. Reader, let us be careful to seek God in the midst of our troubles and ascribe Him the glory He is due.)
What we learn from the current plague, the possible impending repression, and the likelihood of a financial recession, is that our true hope is in God’s redemption. This is an opportunity to repent and believe the gospel and find the only true hope and anchor for our souls.
If you’re hoping for the solutions of men to fix all of your problems and worries, you will be let down. Depraved people may offer some short-term fixes, but they will not be long-term solutions. COVID-19 could be curved, it could be cured, but another disease will rise up in its place. Sickness is simply part of the curse of a sin-ridden world (Genesis 3). If you’re hoping for financial wealth then you already know that it is here today and gone tomorrow. Riches are uncertain. Thieves can steal it, time can destroy it, and it cannot follow you into eternity.
So, clearly, the only hope to be found and had is the hope of eternal life offered by Jesus Christ through His Gospel. As the perfect Son of God, fully God and fully man, He lived the perfect life none of us ever could. He took our sins upon Himself and died the death we deserved upon the Cross, experiencing the full outpouring of God’s wrath we had merited. Through His resurrection, He now offers us eternal life through His substitutionary atonement, the assurance of which is God’s dwelling within you through the Holy Spirit.
Look to the Lord Jesus Christ today and He will remove your tattered rags of filthiness and sin. He will clothe you with His own robe of perfect righteousness so that you will not only be able to stand before the Father on the day of judgment, but will be invited into His Heavenly banquet. In Heaven, there will be no more threats of oppression, repression, recession, or any other evils. Jesus is the only imperishable and certain hope you will ever find.
Psalm 73:23-28 (ESV):
Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.
