Y2K HYSTERIA

Y2K HYSTERIA

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October 11, 1998 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - Almost every day I receive an e-mail from someone asking what I think about the Y2K problem. I have not had any real interest in writing an article about this matter and am unable to reply to much of my mail, thus those requests have gone unanswered. I still don’t intend to write an article about the problem, but after reading books and articles (and watching videos) on the subject for several months, the following is my simple reply.

The Year 2000 Bug will cause problems but not severe ones. There should be no hysteria about this. I have no survivalist plans. I do not plan to pull my money out of the bank or stockpile food and water. I do not believe planes will fall out of the sky or the electric grid will fail or the water system will cease to flow or the banking system will collapse or the military will dissolve into confusion. I would not be afraid to be on a commercial flight in the air at midnight on December 31. I might be wrong, but I believe that is a bunch of nonsense, to be blunt. I believe there will be problems and glitches which will have to be worked out as we move through the month of January 2000, and they will be worked out in a reasonable and timely fashion. That is what I believe about Y2K.

Many of those who are sounding the Y2K hysteria among Christians are the same scare mongers, the same prophetic speculators, the same "Chicken Little" crowd which has been proven wrong many times before. For example, some of these same people told us YEARS AGO that the economic system would certainly fail. Of course the world economic system is in serious difficulty and there might be true economic collapse at any time, but that begs the point. The point is that some of the speculators have been prophesying a disastrous economic collapse in America for MANY years and we have not seen that. Many speculators see prophetic significance in computer technology and El Nino. They see the possible mark of the beast in grocery store check out scanners. These things are interesting, but in the end, it is merely vain speculation because they can only GUESS about the true significance of various current events in light of Bible prophecy. They are merely guessing. I don’t want a guess; I want a thus saith the Lord. Further, speculation is a side track. God has not instructed us to speculate about current events in light of Bible prophecy, but to fulfill the Great Commission while it is day and to look continually for the coming of Christ. See our article "Prophetic Speculation" at the Way of Life web site under the Prophecy section of the End Times Apostasy Database.

Please note, in conclusion, that I have no intention of debating this topic. If you write to me to try to straighten me about this, I will probably ignore you. I believe I have researched the matter sufficiently. I only have 24 hours in a day and there are many other things which are more important to me. If you think Y2K will bring a serious collapse of various systems, it is certainly your prerogative to believe that and to prepare for it in whatever way you deem necessary and to warn others about it. I know of pastors who have researched the matter and have accepted a panic scenario and who are instructing their people to take survivalist steps. That is their prerogative, and if they are convinced of a looming disaster, they certainly should act on it. I believe there is a real danger here, though. For a pastor to focus on an alleged Y2K disaster, he has stopped preaching the Bible and has veered off on a tangent of speculation and uncertainty. That is a dangerous thing for the man of God to do. When we preach the Bible, we can speak with authority "as the oracles of God" (1 Peter 4:11), but when we preach current events we cannot have that authority because we cannot speak with absolute certainty. God has not called a pastor to preach speculation, and to do so puts the pastor’s reputation on the line unnecessarily. If he creates a Y2K hysteria of some sort and then proves to be wrong, why should people believe him after 2000 passes? Will it not detract at least somewhat from his authority? I believe it will.

Last month I met a pastor who is seeing much blessing on his ministry and needs urgently to enlarge his building. Plans have been in progress for more than a year, but recently some of the men have encountered Y2K hystericism and now are wondering if perhaps the church should put off all borrowing and major steps of faith until after 2000. My advice to that pastor was to ignore the Y2K hysteria and move on, leaving the year 2000 in the Lord’s good and capable hands!

See "Follow Up on Y2K"