Last spring, I wrote three blog posts that addressed potential long-term results of the pandemic. Now several months after I wrote those words, I’d love to hear your response.
- 6 Reasons the Coronavirus Threat Won’t Likely Turn Churches Outwardly—and What We Might Do about It
- A Challenging Word from Churches from USA Today
- 10 Questions to Consider before Regathering
What are you seeing these days? What is your assessment of the church’s response?
What am I seeing these days? What is my assessment of the church’s response? They are two tough questions.
I see churches and church leaders struggling to come to terms with what can be described as a “new” reality but which from a historical perspective is an old reality. We live in a fallen world which is far from perfect. We also live in a changing world. The pace of the change may vary but the one constant is that everything changes. The only exception is Jesus Christ. He is the same—yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
A number of churches and church leaders are seeking to protect their congregations and their communities. They are implementing precautionary measures as suggested by the inadequate guidance that they have received to date. This guidance is inadequate because it is not based upon the latest research into how COVID-19 is transmitted and what we can do to reduce transmission risks. It is being diluted to serve the political agenda of the present administration. This is quite evident when you compare how the governments of Australia, Canada, the countries of the United Kingdom, the countries of the European Union, the other European countries, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and China are responding to the epidemic with how the government of the United States is responding. They have adopted much stricter measures to contain the spread of the epidemic and to protect the more vulnerable population of their respective countries. Canada, for example, has similar political divisions as the United States but these divisions are working together to check the spread of the virus in Canada and not against each other. People outside the United States are amazed at how COVID-19 cases are skyrocketing in the United States and the ineffectualness of the US government in dealing with the epidemic. They expected the United States to take a leadership role in combating the epidemic but instead it is lagging behind the other countries of the world.
The political divisions of the United States are not only hampering the country’s response to the epidemic but they are also affecting American churches’ response to COVID-19. This is quite evident in states like California and in my own state of Kentucky. When I examine the arguments which are marshalled in support of defying public health measures, most of these arguments are political. They may be couched in religious language but upon careful analysis their political nature becomes evident. In a number of cases these arguments reflect a legalistic view of the Christian faith, a view with which the Pharisees and scribes would have been comfortable in the days of Jesus’ earthly ministry and with which Jesus himself took exception. On a number of occasions Jesus criticized the Pharisees and the scribes for putting the observance of the Law first when God himself required mercy. Mercy involves not only showing forgiveness and compassion towards others but also holding back from doing what we have a right to do and putting up with a less than desirable situation.
One segment of the US Christian population tends to see the epidemic as a test of their faith. This view is found in charismatic or Pentecostal circles but it is not confined to these circles. It is believed that in response to their faith God will protect them from the epidemic. I believe that it is presumptuous to think that we can fathom God’s intent in allowing this epidemic. If we look at the Bible, there are other plausible explanations for why the epidemic is occurring.
In times of calamity one thing that is tested along with our trust in goodness of God and his goodwill toward us is our commitment to Jesus’ teaching to be merciful as God is merciful. God works through people as well as through miracles. While we may be expecting a miraculous intervention, God may be choosing a different course of action. He may be choosing to work through us. The miracles that God will be performing will be in us, in the way we respond to others, in the mercy that we show them.
A number of politicians are encouraging churches’ defiance of public health measures as a way of courting the endorsement of church leaders and the vote of church members. They are cynically exploiting the divisions over how to respond to the epidemic to advance their political careers. To my mind, this is a troubling development.
The epidemic has a spiritual warfare dimension that often is overlooked. Satan is a student of human behavior and he knows our weaknesses. He will encourage us to think the wrong ideas and to make the wrong decisions. He is exploiting the epidemic to the fullest. Add to this picture, our leaning toward sin, which may include not taking steps toward protecting ourselves and others from COVID-19.
In time of calamity like this one it is more important than ever that we walk in the same path as our Lord and Savior, that we frame our lives on his teaching and example, that we show our love for him by keeping his word and obeying his commandments. That means loving others as we love ourselves, treating them as we would be treated, loving our fellow Christians with the same kind of sacrificial love that Jesus has shown toward us, and loving those who disagree with us, who may hate and despise us. In other words, being merciful as God himself is merciful.