Gospel Perspective for a Growing Pandemic
Having battled sore throat, cough, and massive headaches this week reminds me that it is that time of year again when everyone is talking about getting flu shots. However, Tom Ascol is taking the conversation to another level in response to our government’s course of action for rationing flu shots in the future event of a flu pandemic. Ascol argues, “Followers of Christ should think about how the Gospel works when a killing disease is spreading across their nation.” When you think about flu shots this time of the year, does the gospel come to your mind? Ascol asks, “How will American Christians respond to a deadly pandemic? Will we clamour for the vaccine without regard for our neighbors? Will we be terrorized like those who have no hope?”
These are pertinent questions we should be asking, that is, if we consider the gospel to be normative in our lives, including times of disease, sickness, and suffering. Ascol explains, “Those of us who know the Gospel should minister out of the grace that we receive in Christ, and should prefer others above ourselves and teach our people to do the same.”
In a large scale, the government is making preparations for the likelihood of a flu pandemic. In a smaller scale, parents are making plans to secure the healthy and safety of their family. But how are the churches preparing? Ascol concludes,
“The time to prepare for tragedy is before it strikes. The way to prepare is to drink deeply from the wells of God’s grace in the Gospel. Knowing and delighting in Jesus sets us free from the tyranny of death and dying. And it empowers us to show the way of liberty to those who are held captive to such fears.”
Amen.
