Should the Coronavirus Change My Christianity?

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc.  The virus itself is bad enough, but for most of us the havoc comes from what has been put in place to keep it from spreading.  Jobs have been lost, social, religious and family gatherings are all on hold.  We are supposed to just stay home.  It feels like we have had enough.  Boredom, restlessness, anxiety and depression are becoming our daily companions.  Our personal desperation will likely continue to increase, as there is no clear-cut pathway yet revealed to ending this chapter of life.  What do we do?  As Christians, how do we manage the rules that hinder our worship? The over abundance of editorialized information?  The isolation, the anxiety and the fear that drags on? Let’s take a few steps back and put all these things in order so we can have a plan and work that plan. Should we be defiant? In these unprecedented and tricky times, we as Christians need to be sure of where we stand.  What is our position as local governments are asking (and sometimes telling) us to not meet together for worship?  Are we compliant or defiant?  Do we cite the Apostle Peter when he was taken by the authorities and told not to preach?  In Acts chapter 5 he boldly said, “We must obey God rather than men!”  Should this be the Christians’ battle cry in these uncertain times?  Actually, no! There is a world of difference between what Peter was dealing with and our current conditions.  He was preaching the word to enlighten unbelievers at his own peril.  We, on the other hand, are wanting to meet together with other believers for our own benefit. We potentially put others in peril as we risk the spreading of a highly contagious virus.  A spiritually-minded Christian should embrace the value of sacrificially protecting others, especially the elderly when we have opportunity to do so. What about isolation? How about handling isolation?  How do we as Christians go about managing such a foreign task?  Once again, the Scriptures present us with a clear pathway to follow.  In several of the Apostle Paul’s writings he gives us solid foundation points to be able to cope with isolation.  After all, he knew all about isolation and showed us how to make the most of it. Check out our April 20,2020 podcast, “Should the Coronavirus Change My Christianity?”  We delve deeply into managing isolation and hear from a faithful Christian woman in her 80’s about how she does it.  Then wee tackle managing the information that is thrown at us everyday and learn techniques to parse through it.  We hear from a Christian woman who is a DNP (Doctor of Nursing Practitioner) on handling the fear, stress, anger and loneliness we may be fighting.  This episode lays out the profound scriptural beauty of how and why God permits evil, sickness and death.  The bottom line is this:  We are inviting you to let us walk with you through these hard and trying times.  Together we can not only make it, we can shine the light of God’s love along the way!