I’d like to set the tone of this article with a quote from Martin Luther, the 16th century Christian who is best known for his role in the Protestant Reformation. In a letter addressing how the church should respond to the Bubonic Plague devastating the land, he wrote this:
I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance inflict and pollute others and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me however I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely as stated above. See this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.
Let’s compare the heart and logic of Martin Luther with what Jesus Christ says:
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:36-40)
As a follower of Christ, the past few days have given us increasingly difficult decisions. While the rest of the world is doing what they can to protect themselves, we are torn with a desire to also meet together and attend to those in need. Many have benefited from receiving their pastor’s teaching from their own living rooms, while others wish to continue meeting together and trust God to protect them. There is even a slow divide growing between those two groups, with one being seen as cowardly and the other as foolish.
What should we do?
Love our neighbors by seeking isolation
If Proverbs tells us one thing, it’s that wisdom honors God and foolishness does not. Thus if we want to honor God in the face of the Coronavirus, we must seek wisdom in how we respond. And despite the disruption and frustration that will come with isolation and “social distancing,” it’s clear that it’s one of the best ways we can love our neighbors.
This is an excellent article that explains the impact we can have by avoiding those areas and people we aren’t required to visit. In short, the fewer of us that risk exposing ourselves and others to the virus, the slower the world will be infected. If people are infected at a manageable rate, then those who are infected can receive the care they need because our system won’t be overwhelmed.
Let’s face it, staying home instead of attending events or visiting friends is going to get boring quickly. It’s tempting to think that if we feel healthy, we should be fine. Yet it’s that selfish desire to serve ourselves that can, quite simply, get someone else killed. By seeking to serve our own wants, we are loving ourselves over others. We say that our lives are more important than those around us.
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. (Philippians 2:3-4)
If we’re seeking to truly love our neighbor as ourselves, then we must consider what will have the best impact on others, regardless of the cost to us. When it’s been proven that someone can be infectious without showing symptoms, how can we hold the safety and health of others above our own desires? Do we try to protect people by going out as if we won’t have an impact on them, or are we more likely to love others by refusing to risk exposing them to something that could be fatal to them or someone around them?
The difficult thing about this is that we won’t feel the impact of our decision to isolate ourselves. We won’t know if it did any good to stay home instead of gathering for church or getting the kids together for a playdate. However, the uncertainty of our sacrifice is far more comforting than the horror of realizing people around us are sick or dead because we didn’t want to give up our freedom to go out.
So if we want to love others, we will wisely stay away from them as much as we can.
Love our neighbors by going to them
Most of the world can get behind the first idea. We’ve seen the stories of people who were tested positive for Coronavirus, then foolishly went out in public anyway and caused a chain reaction that led to many avoidable deaths. Yet as those who have inherited eternal life, we know that there’s so much more to existence than our brief time in this broken world. We don’t need to fear losing this life, because all that means is that we more quickly move on to glory.
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again. (Philippians 1:21-26)
Paul is a man who was willing to die. He understood that He was on this earth to serve, and as long as God gave him life he would dedicate it to bringing glory to Christ. Yet he was never foolish with his life – he was careful not to test God, yet never lived in fear of what may happen due to his faith.
This life is all we’ve known, and there’s a certain comfort in that. It’s grounded in a reality we understand. Because of that, it can be tempting to take a good gift from God and treasure it more than we treasure Christ.
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. (Galatians 2:20)
We are not called to live in fear of losing our lives sooner than we’d like. They aren’t out lives to save, only to use well. God has a purpose in letting us live to 90 or 25, but it’s up to us to use that life with wisdom and faith.
Thus, while we must love our neighbors by staying away from them, we must equally love them by going to them when they need us. Certainly, we will make every reasonable attempt to be safe, but we won’t shy away from those in need, whether they’re fellow believers or not, for fear of what it will cost us.
Love them, whatever it takes
Love often requires sacrifice. Sometimes that sacrifice is our freedom to do what we want. Other times, that sacrifice may mean our very lives. We follow the One who sacrificed everything to give us eternal life, and we likewise are called to sacrifice out of love for others.
For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. (Romans 14:7-8)
Like Paul, what we sacrifice isn’t truly a loss. While we live, we desire to honor God by thinking and acting with love and wisdom. If we die, then we go to something far greater. Either way, let us live and die by loving the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind. From there, let us also live and die by loving our neighbor as ourselves.
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:36-40)
