LOCKDOWN 2.0 A Message To The Church: Safety Is Not A Virtue

Fear of death makes us do things that we wouldn’t normally do if we were thinking clearly. You will not die one second before God has sovereignly determined your death.

“I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live.” –G.B. Shaw

By Brad Ward, Director, Armor of Truth

The fear of death and dying can take over and rule the mind of a modern person and make us think and behave irrationally. For example, many choose to avoid air travel opting to travel by bus or car because we trust that it’s safer. In reality, traveling the highways is far more deadly. Many of the unusual reactions we see to COVID news are the same.

Fear makes us do things that we wouldn’t normally do if we were thinking clearly. 

Nervously covering our faces while walking alone on an empty sidewalk. Fastidious washing and sanitizing of ourselves. Lining up in droves to get an experimental potion injected into our bodies to prevent a disease with a greater than 99% survival rate. 

Thanatophobia is the fear of death. From the Greek Thanatos, which means "death” and “phobos” which means "fear, panic, terror.'' Going back further to proto-indo-European linguistics we find the expression, “dhwene” which means "to disappear, die." Adding the prefix “a-” which means “not”, we get athanatos - without death, or immortal, to not disappear. 

We can also see this in the word euthanasia. The prefix “eu-” which suggests good, carries the idea of a good or happy death, in our modern context, an easy or painless death; More commonly in our culture, to put one out of his misery or to leave behind the misery, and suffering of declining, corrupted flesh. It’s easy to see from the origins of these words that death has always been the primary fear in man. The fear of death is so common that there is a field of study called thanatology examining our reactions to death and dying. 

Who Fears Death?

According to the 2017 "Survey of American Fears" conducted by Chapman University,1 20.3% of Americans are "afraid" or "very afraid" of dying. Almost as many Americans (20%) fear public speaking. 

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld said, "This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy."

We can break down our general fear of death into several specific fears.

Fear of Pain and Suffering is common among healthy people as well as in patients dying of cancer or other terminal illnesses. 

Fear of the Unknown is extremely popular among those polled. Death can not be fully understood by anyone who is living. According to materialists and naturalists scientists who believe they know all relevant truth, no one in human history has survived death to tell us what really happens after the body dies. However, Jesus Christ said, "Do not be afraid! …I was dead, but look, now I am alive — forever and ever — and I hold the keys of death and of Hades!” (Revelation 1:17-18). Death remains the ultimate unknown for many. However, the Christian worldview answers this and all other relevant existential inquiries. 

Fear of Non-Existence might be typically associated with atheism or among those with incomplete spiritual or religious beliefs. But many people of faith also doubt their belief in an afterlife and many who have been sadly deceived by false gospels, like that of the Roman Catholic Church, fear they did not do enough or did not do the right things to earn life after death. However, we can thank God for clearing all of this up in the Bible which is fully sufficient for knowledge of God, knowledge of salvation, and how to live as a Christian in a world hostile to the people of God.

Fear of Eternal Punishment is similar to the fear of non-existence. This fear is not only found in those who are religious or spiritual. Many people who have no spiritual foundation at all sense the necessity for cosmic justice and fear that after death they will be punished for bad deeds done or good deeds left undone.

Fear of Loss of Control frightens many people. In fact, control is the obsession of many. Apart from suicide, we have absolutely no control over the circumstances of death. However, we still see so many in times of great fear attempting to take control over death by being irrationally careful; avoiding all perceived risks, engaging in frequent rigorous health check-ups, and having an unhealthy preoccupation with sanitizing and avoiding illness and death. This has become very common as a result of a massive campaign of fear that has come mostly from the media and global agencies. 

My friends, and my brothers and sisters in Christ, safety is not a virtue. Death is the only guarantee you have in this life. To avoid all risk, or to be preoccupied with safety is slavery to the world. 

Safety is not a virtue. We ought to be consumed with doing what is careful, but what is right. 

Gaining a proper understanding of who you are, why you are here, how you got here and where are you going is the healthy way to deal with reality. Only the Christian worldview answers all of these questions truthfully. A healthy understanding of death, holding the worldview that is true, causes us to make the most of our time here on Earth and not take our relationships for granted. 

George Bernard Shaw said, "I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live." Applying that attitude within the Christian worldview is the formula for truly good works. If there are risks involved in carrying the gospel to the world - so be it!

We have all the relevant knowledge necessary about our world and our existence in it to make good judgments on how to conduct ourselves reasonably regarding self-preservation. 

Life is a terminal condition and we all have it. 1 out of 1 human beings will die. That is a 100% mortality rate. God has final and decisive control over how and when we die. 

What do we say to those we see covering themselves in the open, painstakingly cleaning themselves, admonishing everyone nearby who isn’t, and worrying themselves into fits of angst? How do we help those suffering from a crippling fear of their own mortality?

We begin by telling them that they’re not at the mercy of nature. They’re not at the mercy of the pharmaceutical industry and their vaccines. They’re not at the mercy of Satan and they’re not at the mercy of evil. 

For those who are our Christian brothers or sisters, we remind them that they are eternally secure in God’s all-powerful hands and we tell them “You will not die one second before God has sovereignly determined your death.” 

The unbelievers, those who are our mission field, likewise need to hear this message from us now. The world is in desperate need of Christians who fear neither man nor death, but fear God only. We need men and women who do not fear arbitrary policies, mandates, or scare tactics of corrupt or misguided officials. 

The world is watching. When mandates and lockdowns come again, it will be our moment to shine. People will be watching and they will want to know why you are different; why you are so joyous in a dark time. They will see that you are maskless, and fearless as you openly inhale the cool aromas of the produce department at the Piggly Wiggly.

“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:28–31).

Be fearless in the way you represent Christ in the world. The Holy Spirit has told us through the Apostle Paul, that for all those whom God has called to His purpose and “...for those who love God all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28). Jesus Christ died to secure the truth that. 

Death cannot separate us from the love of Christ. Jesus bought, with His blood, everything we need in life and death. “To live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).

Seek the mind of Christ and with this attitude, as we continue to live, Christ will be honored, and when our time to pass on to glory arrives, once again, Christ will be glorified. Do you sense a theme here?

The only sure safety there is in all of creation is the surety we find wrapped in the hands of Jesus, wrapped in the hands of the Father. You are eternally secure there and there alone.

19th-century English preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, said “We have had enough of clever men without consciences—let us now see what honest, God-fearing men will do!”