I turned on the TV news the other day and was abruptly reminded why I seldom watch it anymore. Fear, panic, public events being cancelled, toilet paper and other supplies flying off the shelves of stores. Social media was filled with every kind of conspiracy theory you can imagine. Of course, those are always floating around, but now they’ve multiplied exponentially. I’m sorry, but I’m not going to throw another one of those at you. As I write this, I’ll assume that most of the readers claim to be followers of Christ from a wide variety of churches and denominations.
There is a pandemic right now that is far worse than any virus. It should be obvious to us that there is a spirit of fear attempting to grip our minds. I could throw some ideas out there as to who is behind the fear-mongering, but it doesn’t really matter. What matters is our response to it. Most of us are familiar with 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” Self-control? Yes! God has given us the ability to control ourselves in such a way that we get to choose how we respond to any situation or crisis. I suspect that the enemy of our souls would have us respond to this current COVID-19 threat with fear and panic.
I can hear some folks right now saying, “yes, but we have to use common sense right now.” Of course. When has washing your hands and covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze not been the thing to do? But, should churches be closing their doors? No. Some of you may disagree with me on that one, but I believe there is biblical precedent for it. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the early church as we see it in the book of Acts. Certainly they lived in a time where the world looked much different than today, but there are some parallels.
The one parallel that stands out is that they were faced with threats. It was a time of awe and wonder as signs, wonders, and miracles were happening. There are several references to the fear of the Lord coming upon them as the healings and miracles increased.
They were constantly facing threats from the government and un-believing religious leaders to throw them in jail. Some were even being beaten, stoned or killed. One particular instance speaks volumes to me and should be a call to us in our day to respond in the same manner. Peter and John had just been arrested and kept in jail overnight for preaching the gospel and healing the lame man at the temple gate. As they were being released they were threatened. What was the response of the church to those threats? “So now, Lord, listen to their threats to harm us. Empower us, as your servants, to speak the word of God freely and courageously. Stretch out your hand of power through us to heal, and to move in signs and wonders by the name of your holy Son, Jesus!”(Acts 4:29-30 TPT) Though their threat was a little different than ours (in America), it still involves a response to a threat.
We have an opportunity to respond according to faith instead of fear. It’s time for us to let the Holy Spirit baptize us with the fire and boldness seen in the first century church. In the words of songwriter and singer Nathan Isaacs, “What if we are the awakening we’ve been waiting for?”