Not Responsible

In 1st Peter 1, the writer speaks of the "living hope" that we have in Christ and the inheritance we
have with Him in heaven. He goes on to say:
6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials,
7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
9 receiving the end of your faith--the salvation of your souls.

In verse 3 of that chapter, Peter talks about a living hope.  That is a hope that can sustain us in difficult, it's a hope that is grounded in the firm foundation of the Word of God and the presence of Christ.  It's not an empty hope, nor a dead hope, or a hope that is predicated on man's ingenuity or the systems of this world.  Our hope enables us to trust in the Lord to bring about His will in His time by His power - it can sustain us when things look bleak and strengthen us when we feel weak.  We can rejoice because Jesus is with us, and He gives us hope!

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Peter challenges believers in the third chapter of the book of 1st Peter to allow the hope of Christ
within us to flow out into the world around us. He writes:
15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;
16 having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.

The call is going out far and wide - let's work through the Coronavirus together.  Everyone is being asked to sacrifice for the common good and to help stop the spread of the virus.

Unfortunately, there are those that want to use this crisis to take potshots at evangelical Christians.  Never mind that the Church is strategically placed and compassionately equipped to bring hope and relief to people.

One recent shining example comes from - what else? - the pages of the New York Times.  According to Tony Perkins of Family Research Council wrote:

In a column so outrageous editors ultimately rushed to change the headline, opinion writer Katherine Stewart makes it her personal mission to pin the entire plague on the country's faithful. "The Road to Coronavirus Hell Was Paved by Evangelicals," the block type insisted -- until the paper was forced to turn Stewart's vitriol down a notch to "The Religious Right's Hostility to Science Is Crippling Our Response to the Coronavirus." If the new header was supposed to tamp down the controversy the column started, it didn't.

Perkins quotes Stewart as writing, in what I would call a stunning, sweeping, and intellectually dishonest statement, "Donald Trump rose to power with the determined assistance of a movement that denies science, bashes government and prioritized loyalty over professional expertise," adding, "In the current crisis, we are all reaping what that movement has sown."  To which Perkins responds:

First of all, if anyone's guilty of denying science, it's liberals. We aren't the ones on CNN arguing that babies aren't human beings. Or that biology doesn't determine your sex. Also, it might surprise the Times to know that if it weren't for Christians, those supposed medical incompetents, America would barely have any hospitals to speak of. In New York City alone, two of the top three hospitals have religious roots. So spare us the absurd argument that evangelicals are somehow making the public health crisis worse.

Perkins then points out that an evangelical Christian organization, Samaritan's Purse was actually responding to New York's cry for help for assistance, building a temporary field hospital in Central Park.  And, now the Christian bigotry has raised its ugly head from another New York source: Mayor Bill de Blasio himself.  Just days after threatening to close churches and synagogues down permanently if they violate the city's social distancing orders, the Mayor called the Christian principles by which Samaritan's Purse operates into question.  The New York Post reported:

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday that he has been “assured” the evangelical Christian charity overseeing the makeshift Central Park hospital will not discriminate against patients.

Hizzoner acknowledged that he found it “very troubling” when he first learned that Samaritan’s Purse — a charity run by Franklin Graham, who has raged about “the sins of homosexuality” — wanted to open a pop-up hospital in the park to help handle the city’s deluge of coronavirus patients.

The article says that Hizzoner, apparently a not-too-complimentary term used for the mayor, will...be...watching...the article says: “We’re going to send people over from the Mayor’s Office to monitor” the park facility, de Blasio added. “So I’m very concerned to make sure this is done right. But if it is done right, of course, we need all the help we can get.”  And, if it's not, in his eyes, does he really want to take action against a Christian organization devoted to treating COVID-19 patients out of the park?

Back to Perkins' article: he states that the New York Times writer...

...talks about Christians getting in the way of a "strong centralized response from the federal government," but she doesn't seem to understand that the faith community has always been a more efficient partner in serving the public good. Without the ministry of churches across the country right now, there would literally be hundreds of food banks, homeless shelters, day cares, and testing sites that would either be empty, shut down, or overrun.

But, Tony contends that a rise in devotion to God may be what some, like Stewart, are afraid of; he says:

As everyone knows, it's tragedy that forces people to look outside of themselves. In this time of social distancing, what if more people are finding the space to grow closer to God? The Wall Street Journal touches on that very possibility in a piece of commentary by Robert Nicholson, "A Coronavirus Great Awakening?" Nicholson makes the point that while this isn't exactly the disaster World War II was, the pandemic has certainly "remade everyday life and wrecked the global economy in a way that feels apocalyptic."

ChristianHeadlines.com published a story quoting another Christian leader, stating:

In an interview with Faithwire.com, Christian leader Johnnie Moore said Stewart’s piece was “old fashion bigotry.”

“The truth is that evangelicals are playing a really important role in addressing this pandemic, not only in the United States but around the world,” Moore told Faithwire.

“We are a part of the solution, not a part of the problem.”

In her piece, Stewart pointed to some pastors in the country who have been “reckless” about the pandemic.

Of course, those pastors are clearly the exception not the rule.  And, as that article points out, Stewart dips into the well to criticize what she calls, "Christian nationlism," as a deterrent to the nation's response to the Coronavirus.

It is clear that during the crisis, there will be plenty of armchair quarterbacking.  For the critics of Mike Lindell, a Christian who is founder of MyPillow, who announced his plants will be manufacturing 50,000 masks a day, the question can be rightly asked, as some have implied, how many masks are you making?  The human, sinful tendency is to sit back and criticize people who are actually doing something.  Maybe it's a way to assuage guilt.  This is an unprecedented crisis, and people will make mistakes - but it is not helpful to launch criticism to the shortcomings of those, like Christian churches and ministries, who are attempting to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.

Remember, as I've said, everybody can do something.  A simple act of loving our neighbor is to follow the social distancing guidelines.  That is how the spread can be mitigated.  And, in our time of shared sacrifice, perhaps people will see the presence of our Savior as Godly people reflect our deeply held convictions.   In a hopeless time, we need to continue to keep a sense of hope and encouragement, and there's no better source than in God's Word and keeping our eyes on how God is at work.