A Christian Perspective
A Christian Perspective
August 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic is still spreading around the world. There are now several variants and the Delta strain seems to be of greatest concern. Vaccines have been developed and distributed to billions of people world-wide but the rate of vaccination varies by country and leaders say that "we're not safe until everyone is safe". There is, however, civil unrest and protests. To contain the spread of the virus governments have implemented controls like lockdowns, and freedoms will be conditional on vaccination rates, herd immunity, and vaccine passports - change which seems to be heading towards a surveillance State. And the unthinkable has happened - the vaccines which are supposed to save us have adverse effects on some people, often serious, even fatal. Despite that, the roll-out continues and in some workplaces vaccination will be mandatory. No jab no job. Compliance is driven by fear. Quality information is hard to find. There seems to be a single narrative. Free speech is under attack, along with a lot of other things we took for granted. After the pandemic the new normal will probably be more like China and our Western lifestyle will never be the same.
Can it get any worse? Yes. The pandemic isn't over yet. And while we have been distracted, China has been increasing its' military strength including nuclear capability; an attempted annexation of Taiwan is likely to end the 'civil war' which has been dormant for decades; and if that happens then the USA will be involved and Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, maybe India and others will be drawn in. If the conflict escalates expect Russia to do something. And I nearly forgot - all the countries which created money to finance the pandemic response, the social programs to help the unemployed, those who went bankrupt, the ones who became homeless etc. - now have huge debts. Economies shattered by the pandemic, or the response to the pandemic, face an economic reality check. Rich people have become richer and while the share market seems optimistic is that a reflection of reality? You decide.
So, to summarise: the virus is trying to kill us. Vaccines are effective but some people don't survive. Governments are trying to control us. We are being influenced by fear, mislead by propaganda, and unable to find the truth due to censorship. And when we survive this crisis there are other ones looming on the horizon. Basically we're between a rock and a hard place.
Forgive the play on words. As Christians we are between the Rock and a hard place. Where is God in all this? Same as usual, nothing has changed, He is with us always.
I have been a Christian for over 50 years. This is my current perspective on the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore it is just a perspective, and I don't claim to represent the views of others. After being a Christian for about twenty years my family was hit by a tragedy which left me physically, emotionally and spiritually exhausted and took another few years to recover from. But when the news first came I faced it with a decision - I said "I have trusted the Lord for twenty years and He has been faithful, why would I leave Him now". And you know what? These things happen to anyone. Tragedy, sickness, accident, natural disaster - whatever it is - does not discriminate. No matter your Faith, religion, ethnicity, wealth, or poverty we are all just the same, just as vulnerable and this pandemic is just one more challenge. Eloquent theologians and 'apologists' have written books about why God permits suffering or sickness etc. and I don't read them because I learnt a lesson years ago - I don't question what God does or does not do. I just accept that whatever we are going through He is there, He is with us, He is our comforter and strength. In Him we live and move and have our being.
Many Christians I have known understand evil only by visualising the personification of evil in the form of Satan, the devil, el diablo, Shaitan the evil one. Aided and assisted by a horde of fallen angels called demons. Unless you've been in a haunted house or wandered around a derelict mental asylum at night you probably haven't 'felt' the presence of evil. Something intangible that sends a shiver up your spine, raises the hair on the back of your neck, increases your heart rate and makes you want to run away. I don't mean to be scary, and Christ is greater than anything I have just described. But I want to see if we can identify evil when it is there but we can't see it and probably can't feel it.
We know that lying is bad. We tell our children not to lie or that lying is a sin. Some lies are not too bad so let's raise the bar. What if a lie was so bad that thousands of people died as an indirect consequence. I think that would be evidence of evil. Deceit is evil; hiding the truth or revealing only part of the truth, is evil. Control is evil; if our free-will is removed or restricted that is evil. Genocide is evil, so deliberate de-population is also evil. Eugenics is evil. Shifting wealth to the rich and making many people poorer is evil. Destroying people's income sources, so they lose their businesses and homes, is evil. Creating fear and manipulating a population is evil, and if people take their own life as a result it is doubly evil. Have any of these things happened? Are these things still happening? Then we are not just fighting a disease, we are fighting evil. Most of our politicians and public health experts don't have a clue about that. Thankfully some governments have been motivated to help people cope financially, but still failed to help people socially, emotionally, or mentally. The evil that exists in the world right now is not unprecedented. There have been plagues, wars, economic depressions and pervasive fear, like the Cold War. This one is different because it affects us and it is now. Our ancestors survived those other times, otherwise we wouldn't be here now. But I think we fear most for our children and their future.
Not only is Jesus our Rock, our refuge and our strength, He is also our deliverer, our Saviour. We may not escape the perils of our time but we have a future with Christ in heaven to look forward to. The Christ who is seated at the right hand of the Father is not the weakened image we see on an ornamental crucifix. He is victorious. He is bright shining as the sun. He has vanquished evil and he reigns for ever. That is the Christ who will return. The Christ who will lift us up. The Christ who will send liars and murderers and evil ones to a place we don't even want to think about, because they have no place in heaven. There it is light and peace and freedom and love and joy and the unceasing presence of God. Here and now is just a training ground. Here and now is where we are tested and tried and honed and refined. Some are taken and while their death causes us grief in our own loss their gain is to be in the presence of the Almighty. Some of us endure and will receive a reward in Heaven. Some of us pray and those prayers become the prayers of the saints held up in a golden bowl. And God does answer prayer. He does bless His people. He does bring miracles to some, but takes others to Himself. Is it an easy life that we crave or is it one which helps us to mature and grow stronger and understand deeper things because we've had to pray so our eyes and ears will be opened? Without Christ, without Jesus in our heart and His Spirit within us, we are just a fragile mortal tossed around by the waves of evil that roll towards us. With Him we can ride those waves, live in victory and peace and joy and recognise His presence with us. I am with you always, He said, even to the end of the world.
Grant
August 2021
