The Unforeseen Blessings of a Global Pandemic
Investment losses. Overrun hospitals. Vanishing jobs. Numerous deaths. The COVID-19 coronavirus disease has taken the world by surprise and already left tragedy in its wake. Indeed, even as it is still ramping up, many are already suffering. And as believers, we ought to mourn with those who mourn (cf. Rom. 12:15). There is much to lament. But can anything good from this? Is it possible to experience joy during such a trial?
Those who know Scripture know that God does not merely “allow” disasters like COVID-19, as if passively permitting a disease to carry out its own autonomous activity. Rather, God actively ordains even the most difficult of circumstances. Isaiah 45:7, for example, says, “The One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these.” As the ultimate cause of all things (cf. Rom. 11:36, Eph. 1:11), God is at the helm of His creation. Jesus does not need to “take the wheel,” because He’s always had it.
With that in mind, Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Even the worst of circumstances works for the good of God’s chosen people. But it’s one thing to casually cite Romans 8:28 in retrospect; it’s altogether something else to believe it in the midst of disaster. It’s easy to look back on a tragedy and see the good fruit that God brought about through it; it’s not quite as easy to believe it while the tragedy is still happening.
Yet, if we pause for a moment of reflection, what’s clear is that many unforeseen blessings have already begun to appear even while this global pandemic is still unfolding. It would do our hearts and minds good to identify some of them.
We Rearrange Our Priorities
What would you do with your life if you had a countdown timer showing the amount you had left? Wouldn't it change how you spend your days? Surely it would. Your mindless TV habit would be drastically reduced. Your workaholic tendencies would be throttled. Your video games, social media usage, and sports involvement might be lessened. Rather than burying your head in your cell phone, it’s likely that you would spend much more of your time in meaningful pursuits, such as studying God’s Word, submitting your requests to the Lord in prayer, enjoying every moment with your family, cherishing fellowship with other believers, and considering the plight of the lost.
Psalm 90, the oldest psalm (and one written by Moses), tells us that we ought to live this way. Recognizing that God turns man “back into dust” (Psa. 90:3), and that time from God's perspective is like a plant that sprouts in the morning but “toward evening it fades and withers away” (Psa. 90:5-6), Moses then writes, “So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom” (Psa. 90:12). In light of the brevity of life, we are called to evaluate how we use it. By considering the fact that our days truly are numbered (cf. Matt. 6:27), as God has ordained everything about our lives including their spans, we’re able to determine wiser activities in which to invest ourselves. Consider the question God asked through His prophet Isaiah: “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance” (Isa. 55:2). This summons to embrace salvation through faith alone is based on the metaphor of squandering our money and resources on things that have a short shelf life. Instead, our highest priorities should transcend this life, as Paul reminds us in 1 Timothy 4:8: “…for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”
Of course, this isn’t to say that leisure time is sinful and only “religious” activity is holy. Scripture is clear that even mundane activities such as eating and drinking can, and should, be done to the glory of God (cf. 1 Cor. 10:31). Ascetic monasticism is an equally errant perspective of the Christian life. But this is to say that recreational endeavors without any eternal significance ought to be enjoyed with a guarded heart. It’s been well said that “the checkbook and calendar never lie.” Though we may claim allegiance to Christ, and a commitment to His Great Commission, our true priorities are revealed in what we spend our time and money on.
So, why do you want this pandemic to end? So that your country club will reopen? So that your season tickets don’t go to waste? So that your favorite television show resumes? For many, this pandemic has led to reevaluating priorities in life. Concerns about the newest clothing line or the latest video game seem pretty paltry when calamity surrounds us. When virtually all of our daily pursuits in life are stripped away, we can easily grapple with what matters most—and that type of clarity of mind truly is a blessing. One writer predicts that after this pandemic is over, many will be suffering “withdrawal symptoms from consumerism abuse.” Hopefully, after the pandemic subsides, so will those consumeristic tendencies.[1]
We Long for the Kingdom
In Matthew 6:33, Jesus told His disciples, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Those who are worried about what they will eat or drink (cf. Matt. 6:31) are taught to redirect their energy into longing for the Kingdom. After all, in the millennial reign of Christ, God’s people will find peace mediated by the King Himself. The Kingdom will be a place in which Christ reverses the curse (cf. Isa. 55:12-13), bringing joy to a world that groans (cf. Rom. 8:20).
Sadly, when all seems right, and we have our basic needs met, the coming Kingdom occupies little time in our thoughts. Who cares about a better life when this one seems pretty good? We have electricity, indoor plumbing, refrigeration, HVAC, synthetic bedding, automobiles, medicine, purified water, and an abundance of food. Normal life for the modern man leaves little to lack. Certainly, it is not money, but the love of money, that is the root of all evil (1 Tim. 6:10). Yet, the danger of wealth is that it makes it incredibly easy to disregard our great need for restoration on the earth. And yet, the restoration of the earth will be a profound event.
For example, Isaiah 11:6-10 describes the coming Kingdom like this:
And the wolf will dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,
And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little boy will lead them.
Also the cow and the bear will graze,
Their young will lie down together,
And the lion will eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra,
And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea.
Then in that day
The nations will resort to the root of Jesse,
Who will stand as a signal for the peoples;
And His resting place will be glorious.
Based on that description, it’s no wonder that Christ taught His disciples to pray “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done” (Matt. 6:10). Danger, disease, and death are all reminders that we live in a world cursed by the first Adam, needing restoration by the last Adam. When all sense of normalcy is disrupted by something as devastating as a global pandemic, our hearts yearn for something better. And the Kingdom is that something better.
We Experience Biblical Family Life
One of the greatest lifestyle impacts of the pandemic thus far is the impact upon the family dynamic. Children, most of whom are part of the government school system, have been sent home for the remainder of their school year in order to limit the spread of the virus. This, of course, has required parents, who would otherwise be at work, to stay home with their children. In two-parent homes, it has been the mother (as expected) who has primarily taken up this new responsibility. Thus, many moms all of a sudden find themselves spending their days making meals, providing discipline, teaching, playing games, coordinating crafts, reading books, and comforting troubled hearts. In other words, they’re discipling their children, precisely as the principles derived from Deuteronomy 6:6-7 and Titus 2:5, among many other passages, require.
In Deuteronomy 6:7 we find Moses using a literary technique known as a merism to describe parent-child discipleship. A merism occurs when a writer or speaker cites two opposite extremes in order to imply that everything in between is included. For example, if someone says, “I searched high and low,” they do not mean that they searched only high and only low, but also that they searched everywhere in between as well. In like manner, when Moses described the discipleship required of the Israelites, he first spoke of it as occurring “when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way,” as a merism to include all places. He then described it as occurring “when you lie down and when you rise up,” as a merism to include all times throughout the day. Discipleship was intended to be an everywhere, all-the-time, God-centered endeavor—which is, of course, a paradigm not met by the outsourced education found in secular schools.
In the New Testament, Titus 2:5 makes it clear that women are intended to be the ones caring for the children at home. Using the Greek word oikourgos (a compound word formed from oikos, meaning “house,” and ergos, meaning “worker”), Scripture teaches that the Christian mother’s domain is the home, and her highest priorities are to be domestic. This is one of the greatest ways women can be encouraged to “love their husbands” and “love their children” as Titus 2:4 directs. And it comes with a cautionary rationale: “…so that the word of God will not be dishonored” (Titus 2:5b). During the day, while husbands are to be out providing for their families (cf. 1 Tim. 5:8), wives are to be at home discipling them.
Though the pandemic itself cannot change hearts to submit to the biblical paradigm of parenting and discipleship out of joy and conviction (since this newfound home life has been forced upon families), it certainly provides the opportunity to consider it. Some who have long set forth excuses like “I could never have the patience to do this,” or, “I don’t feel qualified to teach my children,” or, “How will my kids be socialized?” are considering that perhaps such excuses were without merit after all.
Either way, it has been incredibly heartwarming to see pictures and videos of moms interacting and enjoying the abundance of extra time with their children—what a blessing! With this pandemic requiring many women to leave the workforce, and many children to leave their public schools, let’s hope and pray that a vast majority of them never return.
We Grow in Our Commitment to the Local Assembly
As the response to the pandemic continues to ramp up, national governments (and state governments in the United States) have begun issuing stricter lock-down policies. Shops, movie theaters, bars, fitness centers, and numerous other “non-essential” venues are being ordered to close for the time being. In light of these policies, and restrictions that limit gatherings to no more than ten in many instances (or prohibit gatherings of any kind), the issue of church gatherings on the Lord’s Day has come into question. Should churches cease to meet in person for corporate worship during a pandemic? As you can imagine, this has led to a strong theological disagreement between well-meaning brothers on both sides of the issue.
On one side of the issue, believers argue that the worship of God on the Lord’s Day is non-negotiable. Some would cite Hebrews 10:25 as their basis: “…not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” They would argue that closing the church building doors in response to a government order would constitute the voluntary “forsaking” of the gathering of God’s people, and invoke Acts 5:29 as a basis to obey God rather than men. Others would take a more nuanced approach and argue that the Gospel is, in fact, an “essential service” that does (or should) fall into the government guidelines allowing for a church building to remain open to the public. Still others would look to church history and see the valiant bravery of men like Martin Luther who stayed in Wittenberg in August of 1527 when the Bubonic plague struck. While other citizens—including minsters—fled from the disease, Luther and his pregnant wife opened their house to the sick, saying, “No one should dare leave his neighbor unless there are others who will take his place in ‘waiting upon and nursing’ the sick.”[2]
On the other side of the issue, believers argue that to temporarily cease gathering together on the Lord’s Day does not constitute the spirit or intent of “forsaking” the assembling of the saints. They would also argue that the government policies that require lock-down scenarios are not a form of persecution to which Acts 5:29 would apply, particularly since these policies are applied equally to gatherings of all social and religious function. Others on this side of the issue would look to Romans 13:1, which says, “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.” Rather than viewing the temporary cancellation of Lord’s Day services as an act of dishonor to God, they would argue just the opposite: “Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God” (Romans 13:2a). Submission to government on a medical, rather than religious basis, is a genuine act of Christian witness, in their minds. Finally, some would remark that in light of such a contagious disease, with potentially astronomical implications on human health, it must be remembered that the second greatest commandment is not “infect your neighbor as yourself.” Thus, love for neighbor requires seeking the best for their physical health, which at times would include social distancing and avoiding large public gatherings.
Whichever side of the argument a believer is, there is one thing that both sides must agree upon: sitting at home and watching a praise band’s performance or a pastor’s sermon on an electronic screen is not a form of “doing church.”
While being tremendously thankful for technology, we simply cannot conform our theology to these circumstances. As we think of the joy of fellowship, the encouragement of corporate singing, the captivation of preaching, the indispensability of the Lord’s Supper, the celebration of baptisms, the gratification of offering, the sobriety of discipline, and ultimately, the glory of God on display in the body of Christ standing united in worship of their Savior, we must insist that those who think this can be recreated on a device do great harm to the doctrine of ecclesiology. On the other hand, those who recognize that these things must occur in person will undoubtedly develop an even greater appreciation and desire for their local assembly if, and when, they can no longer meet for a time. It’s been well said that “absence makes the heart grow fonder,” and God will undoubtedly use this pandemic to make those with regenerate hearts grow fonder of their local church.
We Have a Platform for the Gospel
In both Old and New Testaments, calamities are used to call people’s attention to the seriousness of sin and need for repentance. When death is fresh on the mind, solutions become even more appealing to those in danger. Make no mistake: this isn’t to say that those in the flesh—lost men and women—are any less spiritually dead (cf. Eph. 2:1), any less spiritually hostile (cf. Rom. 8:7), any more spiritually adept (cf. 1 Cor. 2:14), or any more spiritually interested (cf. John 3:20) just because a global pandemic is underway. The Apostle John’s vision in the book of Revelation tells us that after the fifth bowl judgment (a far worse global pandemic), men “blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds” (Rev. 16:11). Unless men are given a new heart, pain will be a stimulus for blasphemy, not belief. But at least when it comes to our current pandemic, what remains true is that conversations with the lost can easily become more spiritual in nature. Thus, when those whose lives have been turned upside down become desperate for answers, we have an immediate platform to call them to repentance and faith in Christ.
By way of example, the prophet Joel cited a locust plague in his day as a call to prepare for the coming Day of the Lord, saying, “Has anything like this happened in your days or in your fathers’ days?” (Joel 1:2). This swarm of locusts had utterly destroyed crops as a covenant curse from God because the people had violated Mosaic Law (cf. Deut. 28:42). Joel then went on to call the people to repent, saying, “Awake, drunkards, and weep” (Joel 1:5), “Be ashamed, O farmers” (Joel 1:11), and finally, “Cry out to the Lord. Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near” (Joel 1:14-15). Though the destruction of crops was an immediate problem, the destruction of souls was a more pressing problem. Thus, Joel was on a mission to call his people to their greatest need: salvation from the wrath of God.
A similar situation is described in Luke 13. Many Jews in Jesus’ day believed that calamity only befell sinners (cf. John 9:1-3). This, of course, implies that these Jews did not view themselves as sinners. So as the crowds were being instructed by Jesus, He used recent tragedies in their day to expose just the opposite: they too, were sinners, in need of peace with God. Jesus said, “Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:4). Like real estate moguls who operate on the principle “location, location, location,” apostate Jews believed that all was well with them simply by virtue of the community in which they lived. In fact, this faulty theology preceded Jesus’ time by hundreds of years. Even in Jeremiah’s day, those in the Southern Kingdom of Judah believed they could survive Babylonian conquest simply because they had Solomon’s temple (cf. Jer. 7:4). Ultimately, Jesus used the tragedy that befell others to launch into the most important point He had for His own Jewish people: they, too, were sinners in need of salvation. They, too, needed to repent. Rather than viewing tragedies upon others as a comfort for one’s own personal righteousness, it ought to be a warning that the wages of sin is death, and some day we will be the ones underneath the crumbling tower.
Speaking of the COVID-19 pandemic, John MacArthur summarizes our opportunity well:
Particularly in this flu issue, it’s just a reminder to people that they’re not in control. They’re not in control of their life and they’re not in control of their death. There are forces and powers outside of them, and actually inside of them, that have powers that they can't touch and they can’t interrupt. This is a perfect opportunity to speak to them about eternity, about eternal life, about the forgiveness of sin, about heaven, and about hell, and about eternal punishment. Any time the culture’s fear level is elevated, this is when Christians want to stand up, and as I said earlier, be joyful, full of peace, full of faith, happy, thankful, grateful, anticipating that it would be far better to depart and be with Christ, but He wants us to stay so we can declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all people. So I think that this is the elevated time for Christians to show their trust in the Lord and to take advantage of the opportunity to declare the Gospel of salvation.[3]
We have been blessed with a moment in time in which the balm of the Gospel is ready to be applied to hurting hearts. May we not squander it.
A Multitude of Blessings
Beyond the aforementioned blessings, numerous others could be described. Some people find themselves ministering to others in ways they never expected. Others have been stripped of their self-sufficiency. Many find themselves praying with greater fervor. A vast majority will be able to comfort others in the future who experience a job loss or financial uncertainty. Though the days ahead are unknown, and the pandemic rages on, God is not done blessing His people and conforming them to the likeness of His Son. There is much heartache in this pandemic, but there is also much hope.
References:
[1] https://thriveglobal.com/stories/coronavirus-a-blessing-in-disguise
[2] Neil R. LeRoux, Martin Luther As Comforter: Writings on Death (Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Publishers, 2007), 235.
[3] https://www.ligonier.org/learn/conferences/made-in-the-image-of-god/the-gospel-the-church-and-this-present-crisis/