Out Our Way: Spiritual brucellosis - Luke 12:49-56

Out our way, panic reigns supreme amongst the ranchers when brucellosis shows up in the herd. The infection can spread rapidly and wipe out most of not all if it goes unchecked. Once introduced into the midst of formerly healthy animals, it is hard to stop. Thus animals suspected of carrying the disease are quarantined and kept apart.

A few years ago, the folks at Yellowstone National Park were dealing with a bison herd that was too big for the area. Local native tribes asked that some of the bison be given to them as they wanted small herds for their own use, but the fear of brucellosis, which was common in the park blocked the way. Local ranchers on and near the reservations feared if these bison were introduced into the area and some were indeed infected, it would spread and wipe out their own cattle. Now I am not a big fan of Ted Turner, but he stepped up and took those bison onto his own huge spread in Montana and quarantined them until they were all cleared — and then sent them to the tribes with a clean bill of health. So, on behalf of my neighbors, native and otherwise, I swing my hat to Ted and shout “Huzzah!”

But what if no one had bothered to keep the infected away from the healthy? What if the bison had been shipped without regard to the welfare of the herds already on the Hi-Line and the people who depended on them? One can only imagine the devastation to the whole area that would have resulted. But fortunately, folks out our way are smart enough to check for diseased animals in the herd and keep them from infecting the healthy ones. Sadly, we don’t seem to be as alert to the “spiritual brucellosis” that has taken root and is spreading across the whole country.

We are, of course, not the first nation to grow careless and allow those “infected with spiritual brucellosis” to infect the culture, leading to its demise and often self-destruction. Anyone who has actually read real history knows of the rise and fall of culture after culture from the beginning of known civilization that always goes back to “spiritual brucellosis” in which the gullible allow the infection to spread and even promote it. “Hoof and mouth is the new cool.”

As we face it in our time, perhaps it brings us comfort to know Jesus faced it in His. Indeed, so did the prophets before Him. Their warnings were ignored, for one of the main symptoms of “spiritual brucellosis” is “spiritual deafness.” And so it was that Jesus warned the people who still had eyes to see and ears to hear, to refuse to follow the “blind and deaf” who had taken over society lest they too become infected. And, as history also tells us, some did. 

As He proclaimed, the Gospel would lead to a “quarantine” in which the infected would attack the healthy and seek to divide the nation, community, and even families . Putting God first has always been the only cure for the diseased soul — and denial of the disease has always been the chief means of spreading it to the gullible. Another symptom of “spiritual brucellosis” is the acceptance of using the devil’s tools in the name of God. Anger, hate, injustice, and destruction in the name of “love,” “justice,” and “progress” are clear and obvious signs of infection.

What can we do? The infected cannot see nor hear the truth, so all attempts to open eyes and ears is useless. “Like teaching a pig to sing ... it is not only a waste of time, but only succeeds in annoying the pig.” Well, what do we do when an outbreak of brucellosis happens in our herd? We isolate the healthy from the sick as best we can. Yes, that means, as Jesus predicted, the division between neighbors, family and friends. The sick will be the ones threatening division and then blaming the healthy for the division they themselves demand. “If you don’t agree with me, you are no longer my friend, brother/sister, child, neighbor …” The gullible and spiritually weak will give in and accept the infection as the “new normal.” The ones who refuse will be attacked and isolated, silenced and censored. As I noted, this is nothing new. Read your history if you reject the Scriptures, for it is boldly written there as well. Look for yourself and see with open eyes and open ears the same spiritual brucellosis infecting the cultures and nations of the past, and you will recognize the symptoms we face today.

But do not stop there. Yes, those nations and cultures collapsed, as Christ warned. Yes, even today, the infected continue to spread the disease among the unwary and gullible. As it was in the past, it is now and will be in the future. Yet, some of the herd in each time and place always remained healthy, refusing to join the infected in spreading the disease. A smaller herd, what the Scripture calls “the faithful remnant,” always survived. We may not be able to stop others who embrace the infection from the disease, but we can refuse to accept it ourselves and perhaps help others who have not yet been infected —or only lightly so — to do the same. 

Be blessed and be a blessing.

Brother John

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The Rev. John Bruington is the retired pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Havre. He now lives in Colorado, but continues to write “Out Our Way.” He can be reached for comment or dialogue at [email protected].