THE CORONAVIRUS AND THE CHURCH: FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS
I went to church (not my home church) on the first Sunday after the first reported death due to coronavirus in the country and outside China. I was glad to see hand sanitizers offered almost everywhere and was a bit unsurprised to see some congregants donning face masks. After the praise and worship time, a lady came up to the stage to pray for the scare gripping the nation and the world. The pastor then followed it up by demonstrating how the church is doing its best to make the facility as hygienic as possible. And then he proceeded to his sermon which had nothing to do with what I would venture is on the mind of 99.99% of his listeners, mask or no mask. That was such a letdown
While I am sure we all benefited from his choice of topic as it was still led by the Holy Spirit, I wish he had incorporated something about the global health emergency. I understand that the topic had already been set months back but the scare could have still been touched upon if not as an introduction but a very practical and immediate application for “it is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time!” (Prov. 15:23b, NLT).
If there was anyone who came in with fear in his/her heart about the virus, s/he probably left in the same condition. And that was a missed opportunity to set the heart at peace, to remind people how God is not only the Great Healer but the Creator of heaven and earth, to proclaim His sovereignty, and most importantly, to implore us to take stock of our lives and reflect if we are truly ready for the possibility that we might not survive what almost seems like a pandemic.
I then started asking friends who attended other churches what their sermon was about. One made the same omission as the church I went to; another did speak about it which perhaps is to be expected considering the pastor is a surgeon. And there’s this church that gave an advisory which ended with a reminder to trust God and “to shine brightly for our Lord Jesus Christ.” And that is what I mean by missed opportunity by those who forgot about the virus in their sermon. They could have not only calmed the fear in the hearts of their members but redirected the focus from within to the Lord. Ministers, teachers, and other leaders are called to care for the flock especially for such a time as this.
As of this writing, there is no let-up yet on the spread and the subsequent scare. Let us, leader or not, take this time to care for one another by reminding each other that God cares so let us turn all our “worries over to him” (1 Peter 5:7, CEV) for who “by being worried can add a single hour to his life?” (Mt. 27, NASB) We can’t all deliver a sermon but we have our social media accounts. Let us set aside our selfies for the meantime and use technology to shine brightly for our Lord Jesus Christ.
(Speaking of technology, click here for an inside look at how pastors in Wuhan are ministering to their flock.)
I went to church (not my home church) on the first Sunday after the first reported death due to coronavirus in the country and outside China. I was glad to see hand sanitizers offered almost everywhere and was a bit unsurprised to see some congregants donning face masks. After the praise and worship time, a lady came up to the stage to pray for the scare gripping the nation and the world. The pastor then followed it up by demonstrating how the church is doing its best to make the facility as hygienic as possible. And then he proceeded to his sermon which had nothing to do with what I would venture is on the mind of 99.99% of his listeners, mask or no mask. That was such a letdown
While I am sure we all benefited from his choice of topic as it was still led by the Holy Spirit, I wish he had incorporated something about the global health emergency. I understand that the topic had already been set months back but the scare could have still been touched upon if not as an introduction but a very practical and immediate application for “it is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time!” (Prov. 15:23b, NLT).
If there was anyone who came in with fear in his/her heart about the virus, s/he probably left in the same condition. And that was a missed opportunity to set the heart at peace, to remind people how God is not only the Great Healer but the Creator of heaven and earth, to proclaim His sovereignty, and most importantly, to implore us to take stock of our lives and reflect if we are truly ready for the possibility that we might not survive what almost seems like a pandemic.
I then started asking friends who attended other churches what their sermon was about. One made the same omission as the church I went to; another did speak about it which perhaps is to be expected considering the pastor is a surgeon. And there’s this church that gave an advisory which ended with a reminder to trust God and “to shine brightly for our Lord Jesus Christ.” And that is what I mean by missed opportunity by those who forgot about the virus in their sermon. They could have not only calmed the fear in the hearts of their members but redirected the focus from within to the Lord. Ministers, teachers, and other leaders are called to care for the flock especially for such a time as this.
As of this writing, there is no let-up yet on the spread and the subsequent scare. Let us, leader or not, take this time to care for one another by reminding each other that God cares so let us turn all our “worries over to him” (1 Peter 5:7, CEV) for who “by being worried can add a single hour to his life?” (Mt. 27, NASB) We can’t all deliver a sermon but we have our social media accounts. Let us set aside our selfies for the meantime and use technology to shine brightly for our Lord Jesus Christ.
(Speaking of technology, click here for an inside look at how pastors in Wuhan are ministering to their flock.)