Positive Lessons from Coronavirus on Government

How can a person look at coronavirus without seeing how much this virus has revealed about the nature of bureaucratic government and our leaders? So far in our series, looking for anything positive in a daily barrage of bad news about the pandemic, we’ve seen there are positive lessons ranging from basic principles, personal applications, and for society and more.

It’s important for Christians because we are citizens of 2 kingdoms, never more evident than when we look at government. Jesus had a lot to say about that.

Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant and whoever wants to be first must be your slave– just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28)

It’s clear that God wants us to look at government differently…
and in perspective.

Some view Dr. Anthony Fauci, infectious disease specialist advising the coronavirus task force, as being like a god in a white coat. They couldn’t be more wrong in taking his words as gospel because his story changes more than a runway model. Others view Fauci as being little short of Josef Mengele or Dr. Death for Fauci’s oversight (or lack thereof) of US funding for the now infamous lab in Wuhan for “gain-of-function” research which had been banned in the US between 2014 and 2017. (Note that gain-of-function work is on many viruses and explains why the reported $3.7 million number needs clarification. Read the comments in the linked article above and you can see people were warning about a pandemic 2 years ago from such research. In 2014 the US Government paused funding in principle for gain of function research, but in reality, grants did an end-round and new guidance was issued on Dual Use Research of Concern.)

All this to say the world’s scientists and governments have been playing with fire and Dr. Fauci’s NIH farmed out research to China which failed to have the oversight and safety procedures necessary to prevent a pandemic.

Worldwide, the coronavirus has resulted in death of people often considered to have lesser utility: the elderly, comorbid, and infirmed. Fauci is either blind, naïve, ignorant, incompetent, or downright evil, using human subjects for pandemic research as if it’s all a detached abstraction. All in the name of Science: the post-modernist’s god.

“Many scientists have criticized gain of function research which involves manipulating viruses in the lab to explore their potential for infecting humans because it creates a risk a starting a pandemic from accidental release.”—Newsweek 4/28/2020

The Gateway Pundit takes it even farther. They add greed to the mix. Which considering Fauci’s war against anecdotal treatments (like hydroxycholoquine), greed makes more sense than one really wants to contemplate. Why his ongoing insistence for a vaccine (which we don’t have one for SARS or HIV) if there are therapeutics that allow people to recover?

Therefore, wise Christians living in 2 kingdoms ask rightful questions of our government based upon what has happened scientifically/medically (before, during and after the outbreak), economically, and politically.

Learning lessons on government seems particularly timely right now:

God establishes governments to protect us and preserve justice.
Yet governments are nothing more than a group of sinners. It’s important to prayerfully elect those who will (a) follow God , (b) govern by His will and (c) appoint others who will do likewise.
Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.
Laws can be helpful, but not always. We’re learning that the hard way.
Authoritarians make unhelpful laws that control rather than set free. We’re seeing it in action.
The American system of federalism inspires freedom.
Americans of all ages are learning the Constitution not by rote but by realizing they still want to live by it.
Politics is a seductive god because we think we can control it. We’re seeing we can’t.
There are positive things governments can do that individual people or small groups cannot which is why national emergencies and interstate cooperation are helpful.
We can safely assume our governmental leaders know things they cannot tell the public. That’s why it’s important we elect godly leaders.
Representation can be good, but only as good as our representative. Accountability is a must in a representative democracy. It’s time.
Once the government wrests control of education from parents, local teachers, and administrators, curricula trends toward agenda-driven, not education-driven. Education-driven schools would be opening.
Once the government takes freedom or money from individuals, it’s hard to reel it back.
Governments don’t produce income. They reap it from elsewhere.
Governments cannot pay everyone without taking money from somewhere else (or someone else) to do it.
Socialism and Communism do not elevate but oppress. The lie of those systems is their reputation of being for the worker, the little people, when in fact they are for the elite and built on the backs of the workers, the little people. Many in Wuhan died nameless from coronavirus.
There is a way to question the actions of authorities without questioning their authority.
Disrespecting our elected leaders disrespects God who put them there.
Government is no substitute for God. Period.
When a government becomes authoritarian, the rulers separate from the masses. Once a totalitarian takes control, there is but one ruler over everyone else.
Globalism trends from councils to authoritarians and into totalitarianism. A “one world government” is not beneficial until Jesus returns.
Power and control in hands of evil people is insatiable and bad for everyone.
“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” (Lord Acton)
Free people reject bonds of tyranny.
The Kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world will be in opposition until Christ returns. Christians must keep their priorities straight.