Christian in a Pandemic

The times such as they are, with the world shutting down in the wake of a sinister and confounding virus, what is the way of the Christian?

Well, I think it is no different than on any other day, if we are truly honest about living Christ.

Certainly times such as these call Christians to be more long-suffering with people, understanding that others may now be operating out of a sense of fear, paranoia, or anguish.

We must acknowledge that not everyone—not even strong Christians—are always able to submit to the Holy Spirit’s calm and quiet steadiness while a highly contagious virus stealthily encroaches the planet. 

Philippians chapter four is a great recipe, if you will, for how to be at all times and, I believe, especially how to be right now. 

First, as Christians, we can best help or support others by maintaining a demeanor of calm:

“Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near” (Philippians 4:5).

The way to that calm is spelled out:

First, we internally rejoice in the Lord: (I say internally because externally providing pat Bible answers—or joyous Christian smiles—to folks who are truly afraid, rarely works; saying “God will bring good out of this” is actually more like a punch in the face to someone who is in real or imagined crisis, or even to someone simply concerned about the Coronavirus). 

So we do the following within:

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!…Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:4; 6). 

And the result, according to Scripture, is this:

“…the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).

That is how we are there for ourselves and for others. That is how we set the tone in our own households and places of work. 

That is our first ministry to a fearful people: first and foremost, we are calm. 

I love how these next verses in Philippians chapter four begin with the word “finally.” 

Isn’t that what we need to get to in this pandemic, or any stressful situation? A sense of finally? 

The context of today in which I hear that word is this: 

“Listen, this virus is here and not going away any time soon. No-one really knows that much more about this disease than when it began, and it is disrupting everything from basketball games to concerts to public schools. People are losing their jobs. People are on ventilators. People are dying.”

And the answer to that context, for Christians, is in the finally of the Philippians verses which follow it:

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:8-9).

Before calming the turbulent waters on the lake, Jesus assured his frightened disciples, saying,

“Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid” (Mark 6:50b). 

He then climbed into the disciples’ boat after which the wind, and the water, calmed. 

We don’t have to tell people to not be afraid because, as I mentioned earlier, that could backfire by denying how a person is confiding to us that they actually feel, or could simply fall on the deaf ears of someone too distraught to think clearly (we must use our discernment when it comes to verbalizing Scripture with others). 

But we can calm the wind--the angst. All we have to do is get into the boat, so to speak, and still the waters of an anxious people through an inner dwelling upon the pure, the lovely, the good, the praiseworthy and the excellent. 

We live out the calm elicited by an inner dwelling upon the “It is I” of Jesus. 

That is His peace, His evangel, His rest that ministers to all people at all times. 

Christ is the dwelling place that, when we tarry there, others, sensing His serenity, may find themselves dwelling also.

Copyright Barb Harwood