Posted By Michael Breznau on Apr 20, 2020

Deeply loved friends and family:  

Don’t dismiss the experts, the experienced, and the trade-specific professionals.

Think of it this way…

⏺You’re a master mechanic. You’ve been in the business for 26 years. Know-it-all Joe shows up with a leaking radiator and a broken alternator. You know this because you’ve run the diagnostics and have experience with his car’s specific make/model. The parts need to be replaced ASAP.

🛑BUT Joe claims it’s the water pump. He knows this because he Googled and YouTubed possible symptoms and cause-effect sequences with his vehicle. You kindly offer reality to Joe. He argues and debates with you for 39 minutes and then has the car towed to a friend’s unlicensed garage to repair the problem he thinks he has.

⏺You’re a certified public accountant. You’ve been in that line of work for 19 years. You became a partner in the firm 6 years ago. You know tax law, mergers and acquisitions, advanced bookkeeping, and much more like the back of your hand. New business owner Amy shows up at your office and asks you to do her sole-proprietorship taxes. You’re happy to help. But she needs to file a Schedule C and a few other additional forms. All her receipts and mileage records need to be turned into you.

🛑BUT Amy claims she doesn’t need all those records and forms. In fact, her record-keeping is messy and missing important documentation. She “knows” because she Googled info and is a part of a Facebook group with other small business owners that tell her not to worry about it and that the IRS won’t bother to audit her because her revenue is so small. After counter-arguing with you for 2 unbillable hours, she walks out with manila folders in tow, deciding she’ll manipulate it on her own with TurboTax.

⏺You’re an ordained pastor. You’ve enjoyed full-time ministry for 23 years. You earned 8 years of post-secondary education, including a 4-year master’s degree with studies in systematic theology, NT Greek, OT Hebrew, and advanced preaching. Armchair theologian Doug shows up at your office with a new idea: he believes the hypostatic union of Christ’s two natures (100% human and 100% divine) is an outdated idea. Instead, he claims Jesus was a created being like you and me and became deity – God – when He was resurrected from the dead. You graciously explain how that view isn’t compatible with the Bible, the teaching of the church fathers, and simply isn’t theologically workable.

🛑BUT Doug dogmatically believes he is correct because he read through the Bible 10 times, owns a Strong’s concordance that proves the words mean what he thinks they mean, and watched 700 hours of YouTube videos from three different people who teach this interpretation. After angrily debating for 3 straight hours, he leaves the church in a huff and shouts on his way out the door, “You’ll never see me here again! I can’t believe how all those seminary teachers you had got this wrong.”

⚠️Friends, it’s like this with EVERYTHING. Perhaps you’re a computer programmer, seamstress, landscape architect, high school teacher, or residential home builder. Recall trying to explain the fundamentals of your trade to a customer, who claimed they knew better than you because of a TV show, book, or YouTube video?

…Now imagine this:

⏺You’re a medical doctor. You’ve been practicing for over two and a half decades. You’re a graduate of The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. You went beyond the M.D. and earned a post-doc from the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Department with a special focus in epidemiology and mortality data analysis. Masses of Americans come pounding on your proverbial door claiming they know the cause of #COVID19 / #Coronavirus and a series of potential cures. You calmly explain all that you and your team understand about the virus, the likely cause, and the most effective treatments available at this time.

🛑BUT the masses of Mr. and Mrs. America berate your findings, claim you’ve been bought by conspiring billionaires, and shun your advice. After angrily and fearfully debating for 49 days in every corner of the internet, they throw their hands up in the air and shout, “You’re less reliable than the local weatherman” (who, incidentally, is equally offended because last time he checked, 99% of the USA didn’t know how to formulate radar and satellite data into a weather report).

So, dear friends, I write this not to say, “Don’t study or satisfy your intellectual curiosity.” I’m also not saying, “Trust everything any doctor tells you.” I always recommend getting a second and third opinion. I’m not saying I agree with every move that the WHO, the CDC, or state-level officials have made. I’m baffled by the arbitrariness of our governor’s most recent executive order. Furthermore, I understand the medical field is not monolithic in its opinions, diagnoses, and conclusions. By definition, science is never fully “settled.” New findings are always possible.

However, I have several relatives who are medical doctors, personal friends who are also highly trained physicians, as well as dozens of middle-level providers and nurses. They are ALL working very hard. They deserve our support. They’re crying out for our prayers and encouragement.

Additionally, I have some good friends in the news media. They are confessing Christians. You see them on TV. They’re trustworthy people. I see them working very hard to gather the facts and accurately report them to us. I’m not saying, “believe everything you read in the paper or hear on TV.”

But let’s not assume the worst of every human being who disagrees with us.

Let’s all pause before we post. Let’s remember the feeling we get when someone denies the fundamentals of our field of expertise.

Above all, let’s put our full trust in God so that we can honor everyone. Today, many wonder about the integrity of our government leaders and medical professionals. But God’s people put their trust in God’s integrity. This frees us up to honor our faulty leaders because our trust isn’t in them but in the God who appointed them. America’s founding fathers got it right: “In God We Trust.”

Apostles Peter and James both wrote to first-century Christians under intense suffering and growing levels of direct persecution. To these fledgling groups of Jesus-followers, they reminded them of these important truths:

“Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” (1 Peter 2:17)

 

“But set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess. Yet do it with courtesy and respect, keeping a good conscience, so that those who slander your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame when they accuse you. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if God wills it, than for doing evil.” (1 Peter 3:15-17)

 

This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.” (James 1:19-20)

I love you. I’m praying for you. We’re in this together… for the glory of Christ.

In God’s Vineyard,

Michael J. Breznau