Dear friends,
I’ve gotten an email from everyone else about COVID-19, and I didn’t want the School of Kingdom Writers to be left out. My bank, my insurance company, my library, the symphony, my grocery store, and Noodles & Company let me know their plans.
I even got a note from Ally, my online-only bank, confirming that my online banking would be fine, business as usual, despite the COVID-19 virus. Safety measures are in place. That’s a relief. I’m delighted to learn that when I go into my online-only bank it won’t be a risk to my safety.
I’m not a doctor, but I am an expert on media. Right now I’m seeing a lot of bad messaging.
Here’s some of it:
-We’re all going to die.
-Hand sanitizer will save us all.
-Christians won’t get sick. (Sometimes with the addendum, “if you walk out your faith.”)
Here’s what the Bible says:
-We’re all going to die.
-Jesus will save us all if we accept Him as Lord of our lives.
-When we lay our hands on the sick, at least some of them will get well.
I can find no Biblical or historical basis for the idea that Christians won’t get sick and experience a physical death at some point in their natural lives, unless we are alive at the return of Christ.
But what I do know is that sickness and fear are both of the enemy. These are symptoms of the fall of man. These are things that Jesus came to get rid of, and that should inform our response.
“For God did not give us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7)
Power. Love. Self-discipline. We can do that.
We have such a tremendous opportunity to be a light in a dark world right now.
Certainly we should be reasonable and considerate of the weak and frail among us. But we should do so with a firmly resolved compassion, with grace, with prayerful confidence.
We will be just fine. The media’s messages are not grounded in reality. While the virus is certainly real, danger may exist, and reasonable precautions are wise, what you’re seeing and hearing is a deliberate ploy to generate advertising revenue.
I don’t want to belittle the very real fear and anxiety you may be feeling. I understand and empathize with your experience. But if we believe what we say we believe as Christians, fear has no place in us. Let’s work together as a community of believers to rid this situation of fear, and replace it with a spirit of love, power, and self-discipline.
Not to make it about us, but this is the value of the School of Kingdom Writers. To raise up voices that stand in the midst of chaos and darkness—voices that point to a different way.
We are praying for our country, we are praying for you. We certainly don’t want anyone to get sick and we are confident that Jesus has power over sickness and death. Be strong and courageous. In love and humility, show your friends and neighbors how brightly the light burns within those that know him.
And for what it’s worth, we’ll continue to conduct regular operations at the School of Kingdom Writers.
If the social distancing should become too much for you, we’re here for you.
Respectfully, in the love of Jesus,
Brad Pauquette
