Holding Each Other Accountable

The Truth of “Prepared Citizens”

A Christian Perspective

We ask if we are our brother’s keeper. I know I have asked that question of myself. Hold me accountable for what I do and say, please. When we are His, we ask to be held accountable to our brothers and sisters. So I ask myself when it is the right time to speak publicly in a discussion of what we should be about if we are His? We hope that we have our consciences pricked so that we can know “the right way” to go.

I am confident of the great commission, I am confident in the rightness of what I believe – if not confident why believe it, and I am confident that my belief is spurring me on to speak to others about a time ahead of great turmoil. Death may come upon us suddenly. It is right to be prepared. It is right to have prepared homes for those who may survive. It is right to leave behind information on how to make it through the days ahead if we are the ones to perish first. It is right to talk about such things in our homes, neighborhoods, towns, states and our country.

Failure to discuss such things will mean that some will perish due to lack of this preparation. Physical, mental, as well as spiritual preparedness is crucial to staying on the right path when the world becomes chaotic – and if what I see that is ahead is an accurate vision, then we must prepare ourselves like we have never prepared ourselves before.

So, today I speak as a Christian. I speak to my brothers and sisters.

Others proclaim loudly that they do not believe, that they hate the message of the cross, and they are not shy in telling us so. People are free to say what they believe. I am a courteous listener.

Then equal time is due.

Those who believe such things will perish for eternity unless they turn away and the moment of death is too late for a right decision.

Saying this hurts, saying this will not win me friends, and saying this will lose for me the friends that I have. But saying this is right and true. Death will come on suddenly so I speak now.

I do not fear what others believe, I fear my God and to be silent on all these different levels is cowardly and wrong. So I speak. I speak when it is dangerous to do so. I speak when I am ridiculed; I speak because I choose to be obedient to the Word of God – the written infallible Word.

My conscience has been seared – it is right and truthful to tell people what they need to know in order to be forewarned. Is it right and truthful to stand in public and tell people what I myself would want to hear? It is right and truthful to tell people that a pandemic looms.

I believe it is right and truthful to exhort others to speak the truth that they know and believe. Do not be silenced. Do not fear. Speak what you believe and be responsible for the truth that you speak. This is right.

That Word tells me that plagues and pestilence happens. To me, I see intelligent design at work in our world and even in the world of viruses. Some see an evolutionary process. I have not seen irrefutable evidence of this. Yet I know that pandemics happen, they are deadly, and the threat of them demands a response from us.

Too, or society may stumble but this is not inevitable? We must help others even throughout the time of trouble.

As Christians, If we fail, if we faint, what does that say about our level of confidence in a Savior that heals, a Savior who lives and a God that protects? We are failing to demonstrate this confidence when we fail to love during a time of crisis.

Some would say that there is enough information in the public domain so that those who want to know about what is ahead can know. It is up to the individual to search for what they need.

I maintain that this information has not been adequately placed in the public domain. People who do not have computers, who have missed the information age, have not adequately heard the warning cry, at least not to the point where an awareness that they need to act on this information. We are getting there though, we are getting there. We need to talk to each other.

Most folks just have not heard that it is better to prepare for a bit more than a 2.5% CFR pandemic. That even this low CFR in combination of many factors which were not in place in 1918, a similarly lethal pandemic could have far worse effects. I have also maintained that there is a deeper struggle as well. Those who cannot afford computers, or even newspapers and magazines, have not had the opportunity to protect themselves. There truly needs to be an aggressive information campaign in order to make sure that every segment of our society truly understands the threat that we face.

This is the premise that I have worked under – that since I know this information, it is wrong for me to keep it to myself. And then I was told that I am carrying other people’s water for them and for me to judge that somehow people are incapable of finding out this information on their own as I am, I am placing myself above them. There are times when some of us have, by accident or some other cruel trick, stumbled upon information or were we entrusted with a great gift that we are to share with others and I believe the latter. Speak truth, as you know it. Don’t shy away for speaking your belief. It is freedom at its core.

The simple fact of the matter is that we need to be brave.

Everyone, everywhere in our communities, from young to old needs to hear this information made clear to them at their level of understanding. My deaf husband has the right to have this communicated to him so that he can hear. A blind person who reads Braille must receive this information. A senior one way and a child another.

What do I know about such things as pandemics and speaking to others about grave threats except how I know how I want to be treated – I want to know of anything that threatens the health of my family. I do take the wisdom to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” seriously. So who will tell us if we don’t tell each other? 

We need to tell people what they need to hear even when they do not want to hear it, even when “they want their ears tickled.” I don’t see where we are left off the hook when our attempts fail. It is right to warn others so we must hold the line. We must keep trying.

“When I [God] say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself.” Ezekiel 3:18-19.

So being obedient I must say that there is more to a pandemic than preparing to live through it, we must prepare for death too. Death is final. What we choose here matters, don’t be mislead. Be an overcomer.

I am asking that all who believe pray that we understand the right things to do during a pandemic. That we do not lose sight of whose we are and what truth we have held onto. I pray that we are creative in reaching out to others and being examples of hope and faith during the time ahead. I pray that we have the strength to love one another, help one another, and hold each other accountable in love for our behavior even during a national crisis. We need to ‘hold the line’ spiritually, morally, and ethically.

I can only be true to what I know and believe, I afford others this same freedom. Being true to my beliefs, the all-hazards Christian approach has the message of the cross attached and it is the prime focus. For this I make no apologies.

“Go into all the world, making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Ever obedient to the Word of Truth I am acting in love by telling others to prepare spiritually, morally and ethically for what is ahead. I am walking in Biblical love towards others. In trying to set an example for others we must speak up, sanely and soberly and teach others, guide others, reach out to others and show them the way through this time of trouble.

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Holding each other acountable goes both ways.

Listening to our President today speak about the progress that the Iraqis are making I had to look at our own progress in the US on the pandemic front. There comes a time when we must trust that our best interests are being looked after. I choose to trust that this is so. If I am wrong to trust and have not discerned the truth rightly I will bear the burden for this decision.

There may be good reasons why we are not being told to prepare any faster than what news is trickling out now. I am reminded that there are national interests – a larger picture here. I merely ask that we do not fail to trust Americans with the truth for the wrong reasons. I ask that the information flows freely because I have experienced the opposite of panic in telling others. I ask that leaders consider that it takes a long time to change our behavior. I ask that people be told firmly and in time to adjust to this information and act on it. I ask that there is an optimistic outlook toward us that we can change and we can be responsible for changing or not changing. I ask that we all have the opportunity to carry our own water – but that means everyone must be given this chance. I ask that everyone open the spigots of information so that we can prepare premptively and not react to emergency.

(edited for clarity and to provide links)