Bible scholar Dr. Michael Brown explained the contrast between the fearmongering of the secular government in response to COVID and the government of God as outlined in the Bible.
"It is quite ironic that, at the very time hundreds of millions of Christians worldwide are celebrating hope and life because of the Savior's birth, governmental leaders are issuing stark and depressing warnings of darkness, death, and gloom," writes Dr. Brown on his December 26 Ask Dr. Brown entry.
As illustration, he cited President Biden as saying, "We are looking at a winter of severe illness and death for the unvaccinated - for themselves, their families and the hospitals they'll soon overwhelm."
He also quoted Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), as saying, "It's better to cancel now and celebrate later than to celebrate now and grieve later."
Biden, on the other hand, said that the only way to keep schools and businesses open was to get people vaccinated again.
Dr. Brown, who made it clear that he is not an anti-vaxxer, argued that warnings about COVID variants such as Omicron are not only unjustified and unnecessary, but that they are also counterproductive and serve only to instill fear.
In fact, he encourages people to make responsible health decisions by boosting their immune systems in order to protect themselves from COVID infection. Still, vaccination does not appear to be the most effective method of putting an end to the pandemic.
A more effective response to the current crisis
"I believe we would do best to put our focus today on hope and life and light, especially when some researchers claim that one of the factors that increases mortality risk to COVID is stress," Dr. Brown said.
This, he says, is a huge difference from what the government has and is doing to make people more anxious.
"How does this help?" he asked. "Shall I mention much of the media's fear-mongering too?"
Dr. Brown then talked about the hope that is in everyone who is a follower of Christ.
"When it comes to the Christmas message of light and hope, a good case can be made against Jesus being born on December 25," he wrote. "Yet, for many centuries, it has become the time when His birth is celebrated, which means that, all around the globe, people are thinking about and singing about the most significant birth in human history. And that birth brings us hope!"
"To quote an Old Testament passage cited in the New Testament regarding Jesus the Messiah, "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone" (Isaiah 9:2, quoted in Matthew 4:16)," he continued.
"That special, great light began to shine brightly when Jesus entered this world as a baby. And it has shone brighter and brighter ever since for those who have eyes to see," he said.
Dr. Brown went on to say that this birth is a declaration that God is with His people. It is God's love for a sinful world that is announced through the birth of Jesus. Furthermore, the birth of the world's Savior means that everyone can be forgiven and have their sins forgiven because of Him.
"And so, while we learn to live with this virus (rather than thinking we can eradicate it), let's focus on the one in whom hope literally springs eternal. It will make a world of difference, not just in our emotional outlook but in our real, concrete, day to day lives," Brown declared.
