How should Christians respond to the Coronavirus threat?
As mainstream media heralds the news of the global spread of COVID-19 infections and the rising death toll, panic is also spreading as multitudes are gripped by fear and take desperate measures to prevent themselves from contracting this deadly disease. Speculation over the source of the outbreak is rampant, leaving many to wonder if this was a bio-weapon attack by globalists who wish to control the world’s population, or other such scheme. The skeptics, found mostly in those areas yet unaffected by coronavirus, postulate that this much ado about nothing. What should the Christian’s reaction to all this be?
I offer 3 main suggestions for your consideration.
Reject Fear
It is natural to fear when confronted with the threat of death. But the believer in Jesus Christ has been given supernatural — spiritual — life that responds differently than the natural person.
2 Timothy 1:7 says “For God didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.” Fear is not the Christian’s master. If we are responding spiritually to a situation, our response will never involve embracing fear or making decisions based on fear.
Why not? Because our hope is not for this life only. We understand that this life is “a vapour that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (Jas 4:14). We look to an eternal home in the presence of our Lord, who has conquered death and the grave by his sacrifice for sin on the cross and his resurrection from the dead. Christians have no need to fear death, the life that awaits with the Lord is far better.
We also do not need to fear because we know God is sovereign and he cares for us. He is allowing the world to be what it is right now, but is still overruling to ensure that “all things work together for good for those who love God” (Rom 8:28). The writer of Hebrews explains that even when our Heavenly Father allows trials and difficulties into our lives because of our disobedience, he does so to train us, to help us grow, motivated by his heart of love and “for our profit” (Heb 12:10).
So Christians would do well to adopt Paul’s attitude: “to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21). As we have opportunity, we live now for our Lord. If death should overtake us, we are on to bigger and better things.
Now this doesn’t mean I throw caution to the wind and live recklessly. It doesn’t mean I don’t take appropriate precautions to protect myself and my loved ones. God expects us to use our brains and make wise and prudent choices — but choices that aren’t driven by fear. And just as importantly, we must refrain from fear-mongering.
Embrace Truth
As Christians, we walk in the light of truth. Now this truth is primarily the truth about Jesus Christ being the saviour of the world — the truth of the gospel. But this principle should be expanded to all areas of life: we should be lovers, and tellers, of the truth. We must avoid gossip and slander. We must not be those who are described as “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim 3:7).
Knowing what is true about the world around us is difficult, especially when many previously trusted news sources have been exposed as extremely biased or beholden to political agendas. Reports about coronavirus have been widely varying in their claims and often contradictory. We must exercise discretion and wise judgment about who to believe and what to republish.
Many Christians will be tempted to say the COVID-19 pandemic is a judgment of God against an evil world. Others may be tempted to assign blame for the ‘release’ of the virus by wicked people looking to enslave humanity. The simple answer is that we don’t know for sure. Therefore, we should not participate in the speculation and propagate salacious accusations and theories — things we don’t know for certain to be the truth.
One thing we do know for certain though, is that God is not yet judging the whole world. He has revealed his intention to do that, but our long-suffering God, rich in loving-kindness, is graciously postponing his wrath against unbelief in order that the good news may be proclaimed of the gift of eternal life that is available to all who are willing to receive it. “Behold, now is the acceptable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor 6:2).
Show Love
Reports have been made of Christian believers in the hardest-hit areas of China who have been, at great personal risk, handing out masks and sharing the gospel of Christ in the public squares. Their care for the community and their appreciation of the love God has shown to them has driven them to abandon natural fears, to share the truth of salvation and show real love.
Love is our primary mandate. We are told to obey God is to “love your neighbour as yourself” (Rom 13:9). We have little trouble loving ourselves; making sure we are comfortable and ensuring our needs are being met. The follower of Christ is mandated to consider the well-being of others with the same priority as they address their own needs.
If we find ourselves infected, I’m sure we will appreciate compassion and help. We should be willing to extend the same to those already battling the disease, regardless of their nationality, politics or chosen lifestyle. What that looks like in practical outworking will differ on our proximity to the infected populations, our resources, etc. But at a minimum, it means a sympathetic perspective towards those impacted by coronavirus.
Ultimately, one way every Christian can participate in caring is through prayer. We should pray for peace in our own hearts, clarity and discernment in our own minds, and awareness to opportunities in which we can show the love of Christ. We should pray for those infected, and for the broken and devastated families and communities this outbreak is leaving behind. We should also remember to pray for our leaders and civic authorities — regardless of our political disagreements with them — that they would administer with wisdom and effectiveness. Finally, we should pray for the spread of the gospel. As people face the reality of mortality, may it encourage them to seriously consider the gift of eternal life Jesus offers.
