All of us are struggling to know how to respond in the present crisis. Some think that governments are overreacting and others feel not enough is being done. What is the Christian response to this crisis? Is this a judgment from God? Why does God cause viruses to happen? Does he not care about human suffering? If God is so loving and so powerful, why does disease exist? I have written an essay on the question of pain and suffering. It is attached here. The Problem of Pain and Suffering
Let me give the very brief version. All God created is good. In fact it is very good (Genesis 1:31). Plate tectonics are good because it recycles the minerals in the planet and produces an atmosphere, but it also causes earthquakes. Weather is good because it distributes the energy coming from the sun nearly equally around the spherical planet, but it also causes hurricanes and tornadoes. Bacteria are good because they put oxygen and nitrogen in the air and they support all higher forms of life (for example, putting vitamin K into our bodies), but bacteria also cause disease. Death is good, because, through evolution, it allows change and adaptation over time to a changing environment, but it also means that our pets die and we die as well. Suffering is not evil, but good, but it causes us emotional pain.
As humans, we certainly struggle with disease and death, but these are not the real human problem. The real problem is sin and separation between us and God and between us and our fellow humans. The reason we exist is so that we could love God, God could love us and we could love one another. The thing to fear is not disease and death but separation from God for eternity.
So as Christians, in principle, we do not fear this virus. But, like Jesus, we try to mitigate and minimize suffering, disease and death, not because they are “bad” but because this is what love and compassion demand. So, hopefully, we will not give in to fear and panic at this time (but all of us are subject to fear to some extent, even as Christians). We should take this difficult situation as an opportunity to show Christ. We do this by not panicking, by being submissive to governing authorities (Romans 13:1-4), and by finding opportunities to be a blessing, first to one another, but also to the people we are in contact with (at a social distance, of course). So let us show faithfulness, courage and compassion to our fellow believers, to our neighbors and to our family. A lot of people are asking questions they normally avoid about the ultimate meaning of life. Let us take the opportunity to help them to find the true meaning of life and of disease and death.
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