It began as a trickle-down rumor and, in just a very short amount of time, became a global panic fueled by reports of pandemic spread and increased rates of mortality. As though the world stepped into the pages of a Robin Cook novel, we found ourselves caught up in the chatter of ignorant conspiracies, political wrangling, and the widely varied responses between the states and the federal government. To make things worse, stockpiling of essential and nonessential goods began to overtake the most sensible of people. Informed or misinformed, even those who were quick to criticize found themselves wandering the empty aisles of local grocery stores looking to fill their cupboards–just in case.

Soon, and it never takes long, the google elite were taking to social media and dropping informational screenshots, providing unverified statistics, and discussing epidemiological concepts as though they had been practicing as professionals supported by a long history of experienced forays into past pandemics. The dissent and opinions were like little flies hovering over overripe fruit.

To make things worse, the United States began to see the calls for sheltering and shutdowns. Gatherings of a certain number were met with statewide bans and/or recommendations. Proposed curfews in certain cities like Hoboken, NJ were set into place and gyms, restaurants, bars–among other venues–were placed into restrictive settings that either closed or limited business operations. It did not take long though for pastors, leaders, and congregants of churches across the world to respond as they most often do in scenarios that are new and fraught with the unknown; they presented a divided response.

Pastors began to criticize other pastors for listening to recommendations of local authorities and the mockery and disdain for anyone feeling it would be important to take precautions was palpable. If anything has been learned from this already, we have shown just how much time is spent perusing social media trolling other churches, ministries, and organizations.

At an rO spread rate that parallels the worst of infectious diseases, our opinions, disagreements, conspiracies, and responses have spread like wildfire throughout our various social media feeds, text messages, and even sermons being preached. I am staggered by the vitriol some have expressed toward government officials while, on the other hand, the apocalyptic nay-sayers who are pointing their fingers at the world and seeming to revel in the plague-like judgment of God upon the earth due to sin. Give.me.a.break!

Some church leaders and pastors have taken to video and are dispensing with elastic interpretations of Old Testament scriptures while summoning up legislative statutes and procedural minutia in a way that seems to encourage a militia-biased citizens united approach to the recommendations and calls for assistance that local authorities have given. Can I remind everyone reading this article of a few important features common of these limitations, bans, and calls for restricted social gatherings?

• Everyone is being impacted by these restrictions: Yes, from airliners to restaurants, everyone is being faced with the same mandates, recommendations, and restrictions. The church is not being persecuted and to turn this into an “us vs. them” is a disastrous response that lacks biblical rationality and common sense! The very “gods of this world” that you preach about so adamantly have been thrust upon with these same restrictions and they are losing billions of dollars at this very moment.
• Not everything is about judgment and apocalyptic doom: folks, if we learned anything from Y2K, let us not forget those among us whose ministries were essentially stained, or worse, ruined because of apocalyptic fever! Not every disease, earthquake, red moon, and setback in life is an immediate sign of broken seals, deathly trumpet calls, and the antichrists arrival. Take.a.chill.pill! Relax with the mark of the beast, the forced implanting of computer chips, and the one-world government fever! Just keep looking to the hills from whence cometh our help!
• You are not the only ones suffering: it is tone-deaf to a shattered community around us to act as though the church is the one taking the greatest hit. I have cringed at the tithing memes that have dispensed around social media. A broken world and community–one that we are called to be a city on a hill, a light that shines in the darkness, and a refuge from despair–is facing serious setbacks and potentially catastrophic situations relating to the economy. Preach hope, not resistance! Preach peace, not defiance! Itinerant ministry, please be careful utilizing social media as a dock to fish from while you speak of your predicament of canceled services and openly air the need for offerings and financial assistance. There are a lot of people already facing setbacks and I personally know people who are not getting paid right now because businesses have shuttered. Send a letter if you must, but it will help to keep it off social media.

The above-mentioned features and insights are limited, though I could add several more to the list. That being said, somewhere in the midst of these situations that many of us have never before seen we must pull together and avoid criticism, conspiracy, defiance, and a myriad of other emotional responses that could diminish our witness during a time that is laden with opportunity and possibility. Courage doesn’t always equal defiance and we need to stop casting stones at those who are doing their best to respond to this with wisdom in such a way that follows peace with all men.

If you want to make yourself a martyr and act as though you are the only one in the arena when everyone else is in the same predicament, go for it! I’m just letting you know that nothing is gained from such a mentality. It makes you look mean, peevish, and extreme. As a church-planter, we are navigating this situation like one would a foray into a swamp–with great wisdom and caution. We are praying for direction, being careful to observe where we step, and making sure the snakes and critters of the fetid waters do not get into the boat. We are looking to be as wise as serpents but as harmless as doves. We are looking to be a light in the darkness and a city set on a hill. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is good about diminishing other peoples problems, their reasonable or unreasonable fears, or standing as tyrannical opponents against our local authorities when we, as a church, are not being treated differently than anyone or anything else.

God bless and let us pray and seek for divine direction during this time. I have felt such a nearness of God’s Spirit in the last few weeks and feel as though our best days are ahead of us.