Yesterday, like many other local churches around the world, IgniteLife Church Gold Coast did church online. We turned our auditorium into a makeshift video casting studio. Of course, I spoke about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, as did many other pastors. I reviewed the global situation, which I will not summarise here because things are moving so rapidly. What won’t change is what I believe is an appropriate biblical response for us as individuals. That is my focus in this blog.

First, it is important that we understand that God did not suddenly wake up one day late last year and decide to punish the world or test the church by creating a new virus. There will be a time in human history when God does punish the wicked, but not because He is capricious. He has made it clear for any who care to notice that He will punish the wicked near the end of human history. For reasons that I will explain in more detail in future blogs, this is not the beginning of the Great Tribulation spoken of in Revelation. The weight of biblical evidence strongly supports the idea of the church being taken out of the Great Tribulation (the Rapture) or bering taken through it totally protected from harm (as the Israelites were in Egypt).

Second, the tribulation that the world is going through is symptomatic of a fallen world. It is, perhaps, not stretching the meaning of His words too far to claim that Jesus prepared us for the bad stuff when He said to the disciples, ‘These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world’ (John 16:33, New King James Version). As Christians, we understand that the root cause of all bad stuff is sin. That’s why ‘…all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us…’ (Romans 8:22-24, New Living Translation).

Third, we have the assurance that even when we experience bad stuff, God will use it for a good purpose. He turns bad stuff into good stuff! Romans 8:28-29 says, ‘So we are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together to fit into God’s perfect plan of bringing good into our lives, for we are his lovers who have been called to fulfil his designed purpose. For he knew all about us before we were born and he destined us from the beginning to share the likeness of his Son. This means the Son is the oldest among a vast family of brothers and sisters who will become just like him’ (The Passion Translation).

How, then, should we behave at this time of global crisis? Here are four principles we would do well to reflect upon.

1. We need have no fear. Jeremiah 17:7-8 says, ‘But blessed is the one who trusts in Me alone; the Eternal will be his confidence. He is like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots beside the stream. It does not fear the heat or even drought. Its leaves stay green and its fruit is dependable, no matter what it faces’ (The Voice, emphasis added). 2 Timothy 1:7 declares, ‘For God will never give you the spirit of fear, but (he gives you) the Holy Spirit who gives you mighty power, love and self-control’ (The Passion Translation, emphasis added). Psychologists tell us that fear is what drives people to denude supermarket shelves. At first it is fear of running out (of toilet paper, etc) and then it is fear of missing out - FOMO - that compels people to act in a way that is counter to the best interests of community. Also, when there is a big disaster that people can’t control, they default to things they can control - like stocking up their pantries. People who do not fear, do not behave like that!

2. We need to exercise faith. I recommend reading the whole of Psalms 91 two or three times daily. Verses 7, 9 and 10 from The Passion Translation are great faith statements: ‘Even in a time of disaster, you will remain unscathed and unharmed. When we live our lives within the shadow of God Most High, our secret hiding place, we will always be shielded from harm. How then could evil prevail against us or disease infect us?’ (The Passion Translation, emphasis added). It is interesting that the memory verse in the Treasury Project, sponsored by Vision Christian Media, this week is 1 John 5:14, ‘This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, he hears us’. Verse 15 adds, ‘And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him’ (New International Version). We can be assured that if we ask God for protection from COVID-19, He will hear us and grant our request.

3. We need to be responsible citizens. Although I might have the faith to ask God and believe for His protection, not all Christians have a mature faith and many have faith mixed with unbelief. Furthermore, we live in a society in which (in Australia) only about 5 per cent of the population are committed to weekly attendance at their local church. Therefore, the communities in which we live will not be living in the ‘shadow of the Almighty’. This is a good reason to cooperate with the earthly authorities as they implement measures that will have widespread and long-lasting social and economic effects. Their basic objective is to ‘flatten the curve’ in the graph of cumulative confirmed cases. Although the overall mortality rate from COVID-19 is likely to be less than 3 per cent and, quite possibly, as low as 0.25 per cent, the fact is that the disease is deadly to the elderly and others whose health is already compromised. Many will potentially die for lack of intensive care beds and respirators in hospitals. If we do not follow government directives, we could inadvertently cause the death of one or more vulnerable people. ‘In order to honour the Lord, you must respect and defer to the authority of every human institution, whether it be the highest ruler or the governors he puts in place to punish lawbreakers and to praise those who do what’s right. For it is God’s will for you to silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing what is right. As God’s loving servants, you should live in complete freedom, but never use your freedom as a cover-up for evil. Recognise the value of every person and continually show love to every believer. Live your lives with great reverence and in holy awe of God. Honour your rulers’ (1 Peter 2:13-17, The Passion Translation). Romans ch. 13 is instructive in this regard too.

4. We need to love our neighbours. Every Christian ought to be familiar with the answer Jesus gave to the question, ‘Which is the greatest commandment?’. ‘And you shall love the Lord you God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself”. There is no other commandment greater than these’ (Mark 12:30-31). Furthermore, ‘true’ religion is defined in James 1:27 as, ‘Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you’ (New Living Translation). Orphans and widows had no means of social or economic support in the first century. True religion is religion that looks after those who lack social or economic support. We Christians should shine in acts of compassion and kindness to any we see suffering socially or economically at this time. We need to love our (literal) neighbours. We must do this even while honouring the rules on ‘social distance’. Social distance should not mean social or economic isolation for our neighbour.

There you have it. Four principles for living as Christians in this extraordinary time. Let us commit to these principles and shine in a world that seems dark to so many. May God bless you as you do.

One final thought. In our church yesterday we prayed for mutation of the virus that would render it harmless. Amen.