Please watch your email tomorrow for plans about the upcoming days of our lives together here at Lord of Life.
On September 5, 2019, I wrote a blog post about bad theology and I jokingly chose an image to go with it that said “Bad Theology Kills.” In the blog I talked about a Facebook post in which I joked about how God was trying to teach me a lesson through all of the bad luck I was experiencing. Some people didn’t realize I was joking on Facebook, so I needed to clarify in the blog that I don’t think God punishes us for our actions.
Today, I feel the need to call attention to some more bad theology that is currently floating around the internet in response to the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) threat that is spreading throughout the United States and the world. I have seen several posts that say “Do Not Fear” or “God Is In Control” and are accompanied by people talking about how we do not need to worry about this pandemic. Those are mild compared to the pastor who recently preached that the coronavirus is a plague sent by God to purge the world of sin as the End Times approach and “true believers” will be immune from the plague.
First and foremost, I do want to say that there is Biblical precedent for believing that God is working for the redemption of the world and that we do not need to fear death because Christ has shown us that God can defeat death. But, and this is a big BUT, we still have free will here on Earth. God is not pulling all of the strings as if we are marionette puppets. If we didn’t have some control over our lives and this world, Adam and Eve would not have been able to eat of the forbidden fruit. We are still responsible for our actions here on this earth.
God has given us gifts of reason, knowledge, and understanding and this is the exact time that we should be utilizing them for the betterment of all society. Scientists from around the world are telling us that through social distancing we can “flatten the curve,” which will greatly reduce the amount of people who will contract the coronavirus, potentially saving millions of lives. (https://www.sciencealert.com/dragging-out-the-coronavirus-epidemic-is-important-in-saving-lives) We should take great care in trying to balance caring for our families and also trying to protect the most vulnerable in our midst. Jesus gave us the responsibility to care for those who are most vulnerable in our society even if it seems inconvenient to us at times.
These next several weeks or months are definitely going to be hard for us as the normalcy of our lives is interrupted. You will not be spared from the Coronavirus because of how “holy” you are and scientists are not antithetical to Christianity. God desires you to be healthy and live a life of love. One of the ways we can show that to others right now is to make sure we listen to the advice that is given to us and choose to preserve life at any cost.
Your armchair theologian,
Pastor Corey