The coronavirus has impacted us all.
Yet we all have different opinions about its origin, nature, danger, mortality rate, treatment, and prevention…along with a whole host of concerns, questions, suspicions, and criticisms of our government’s response to it.
Unique times.
Uncertain times.
Unprecedented times.
Unnerving times.
In the midst of this pandemic, I think there are at least five undeniable lessons that we can learn.
1. Our nation is seriously divided. Well, we already knew that but this virus has certainly highlighted it. We are so divided that not even a potentially deadly virus, that can infect both Democrats and Republicans, can bridge the gap. We are much more divided politically than we are religiously, racially, or educationally. Bottom line…Republicans can’t stand Democrats…and Democrats can’t stand Republicans. And both sides vehemently…and confidently…blame the other for the problems in our nation.
I remember the days after 9/11 in America. Even though there were strong political divisions in our nation back then, there still seemed to be some level of shared values…shared life…shared loyalty to our nation. This crisis has not yielded the same common ground…the same common good…the same common grace toward one another.
2. We don’t trust our government or the media. The partisan divide has created a deep sense of suspicion, cynicism, and mistrust. If you are conservative, you watch FoxNews and distrust everything Nancy Pelosi, and every other Democrat, says. If you are liberal, you watch CNN and distrust everything Donald Trump, and every other Republican, says. Thus, we generally live in our own “echo chamber,” only listening to and befriending those who think like us.
The pervasive availability of alternate news sources only amplifies the problem. Now, anyone with an opinion, a mic, a camera, and some claim to credibility can demand just as much attention as a major news source. The democratization of information creates more fragmentation as no one trusts anyone who doesn’t already confirm what they already suspect.
3. We live in a dangerous world. Regardless of our opinions and divisions, there is one thing that is still true…we are all mortal humans living in a dangerous world. We can fight against each other all we want but it doesn’t change the fact that we have bigger problems and greater enemies in this world. We are all vulnerable to weakness, sickness, disease, disaster, injury, infection, aging, and death. Something as small as a virus… unseen, uncontrolled, unconcerned…can invade our bodies, ravage our strength, and take our lives. We are not as strong as we think we are…and our world is not as safe as we want it to be.
4. We need a hope bigger than ourselves. In the midst of difficult times…whether it be from the pandemic itself or the negative effects that result from it…we long for good news. Unfortunately, the news media doesn’t offer much hope…and politicians, no matter what position or party they belong to, can only offer temporary solutions. If our hope for the future extends only to the next paycheck or the next election or the next medical breakthrough…then we don’t have much hope.
True hope must extend past the sorrows, injustices, and tragedies of this world. True hope must be higher…greater…stronger…than death. If this life is all there is…if this world has no purpose or meaning…if death is truly the end…and the universe is doomed to destruction…then how can we say that we have real hope? We are deluded…deceived…and desperate to hold onto our illusions.
BUT…if there is a God who created us…who loves us…who entered our world…who died for us…who conquered our enemies…who rose from the dead…who offers us eternal life…who promises to make every wrong right…to turn every sorrow into meaning…to restore all creation to paradise…then we have real hope.
5. The message of Jesus Christ is reaching more people around the world than ever before. If you are a Christian in America, then it is easy to think that the message of Christ is sort of “stuck in neutral.” This global shutdown has even made some people think that “churches are closed” and that the gospel is being restricted by the government.
Here is the reality…the church is not closed because it is a people not a building…and the gospel cannot be restricted by the government because it is a spiritual message that spreads heart to heart, person to person, family to family, house to house. The church can be persecuted…even mocked and attacked…but it ultimately cannot be stopped. Because Jesus Christ has promised to build His church…and if the gates of hell can’t stop it then certainly no human government can. Proof? The fastest growing Christian movements in the world today are in China and Iran…and the church continues to grow exponentially in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Even in America, the shutdown of church buildings has resulted in the message of the gospel going out further and reaching more people than ever before through the power of the internet. How people respond is up to them…but the message is spreading.
So, believer, take courage.
God is sovereign.
Christ is risen.
And the Spirit is at work all around the world.
This is not a time to be fearful, suspicious, cynical, angry, or discouraged. It is a time to look outward…for the opportunities are everywhere…and to look upward…because our redemption is drawing near.
