A Christian Response to a Plague

One most astonishing thing about the COVID-19 pandemic is that not one of the New Year prophecies by Pentecostal pastors in this country (or anywhere else in the world) captured it. Not one. This essay is not intended to be a religion bashing piece; I am becoming increasingly wary of criticizing religion on social media because many irreligious people think that I am in the same camp with them. I am not irreligious; I hold to a firm conviction in the Christian gospel. My problem, however, is that I see so much of the lapses in religion that irreligious folks also see.

And one of such lapses is that virtually every Pentecostal pastor in this country gave a New Year eve prophecy and not one of them saw the coming of the Coronavirus that would ravage the whole world only few months into the New Year. This lends credence to my often made remark that there is more to Christianity than many of these Pentecostal churches portray. I do sincerely hope that in the coming years, people would use the wee hours of the New Year for more fruitful ventures (like a good night sleep) than running around prayer houses. It is obvious that these pastors do not hear anything from God. They are just feeding the itchy ears of their followers with their so called prophecies.

When disaster hits the polity; when a nation is enmeshed in a plague; when the world is jittery and scared stiff regarding a germ war that has been unleashed on her; what response does the Christian Church have?

There are many but perhaps I should take the time to first define what the Church is. When I published an article earlier in the week and suggested that government cannot legislate laws for the church, I did not have the plethora of mushroom, lawless and rudderless assemblies that dot the face of Nigeria streets in mind. I had a church that was properly constituted by God in mind. While many gatherings may call themselves churches, we need to understand that a true church is a congregation of God’s people. People who have covenanted together to serve the living God, having in their midst a leadership approved by these same people and recognized by other Christian churches in other localities.

The church is a congregation of born-again Christians who are, first of all, under law to God, and subsequently under submission to the authorities in the land. This order of priority of laws means that any law that a land constitutes that differs from the laws of God cannot be obeyed by the Church. The Church in such a locality must undergo civil disobedience in protest against such a law. But I have since removed that article from my wall because the directive from the State government were I reside, that everyone should remain at home at a time like this, cannot in a true sense be considered a legislation against the church but a directive for the general good. And Christians would always be the first to support anything that will bring about the overall good of society – for we serve a God who is good, who made a good world and who commands us to make our world a better place than we met it.

Therefore when challenging times hit society; when death is walking the streets and men are losing heart - what should the church do? Historically the Christian Church had always been at the forefront of pursuing social good. In the first century, when it was common to deposit the dead bodies of peasants on the roads and bushes in the ancient Roman empires, Christians developed a reputation for burying the dead. When they were asked why they did this, they replied that man is made in the image of God and the corpses of all men are worth a burial. In the early 20th century when the Spanish flu ravaged the world, leaving 50 million people dead in its wake, Christians were at the forefront of lending extra hands to the medical team. Churches shut down and opened their doors, acting as overflows for hospitals that were already filled with the sick and dying.

I was particularly moved by a picture circulating the internet of Cuban doctors arriving Italy to offer a hand of help to the already overstretched Italian medical infrastructure. In the same vein, Christians must be preparing to lend a hand to help in the coming medical emergency that is very likely going to invade Nigeria in the coming months. In this light, and as soon as I am out of isolation, I shall be approaching the leadership of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, to find out what hand non-medical persons like myself can render to help in the impending medical emergency we are very likely to face in the month of April. Even if it is to help carry stretchers or to run some errands for doctors and nurses, as they minister to the sick, I am hoping that I would be able to do that. And I would seriously urge you, my readers, to consider doing a similar thing. What we are faced with is a germ war; and in times of war, all hands must be on deck to fight the enemy. In this case, it is the COVID-19 virus. My hope is that when the roaster of volunteers are eventually read out, Christians will top the chart. This is what is essentially Christian to do in times like this.

The times of plague, deaths and destruction also calls for the Christian to sound out a message of hope to the world. The Christians is a martyr of some sort; we possess the message of eternal life on our lips and our hearts. The Christian gospel teaches that there is more to this life than the material. It is in this life that we choose what sort of life we shall live after now. There are two options on the table: an option of entering into eternal bliss and joy with God; or the other option of suffering the wrath of God forever.

The question to ask is: why would God punish men eternally? Because God is absolutely holy, he cannot behold sin and his justice demands that he punishes sin. This is why Jesus Christ, his son, suffered the wrath of God on earth and took on himself the sins of all the world. Those who would enjoy eternal bliss are those whom have trusted Christ for redemption from their sins in this life. They are the ones whose sins God has punished in Christ and thus cannot suffer another punishment in the life to come. Those who would suffer God’s wrath eternally are those who did not trust Christ for redemption from their sins in this life.

A time of plague and death is a time all the world must again reconsider the gospel of Christ, and ask if it is worth believing. God loves the world and gave his Son as sacrifice for the sins of all men. Those who would believe in him will not perish but have eternal life. It is a simple message that has unfortunately been made complex by the Prince of the power of the air – the devil; so that you may not believe the gospel and so that you would not be saved. Those who have found salvation in Christ, have peace with God and death is no longer a terror to them. Rather, death has become for us a step into the greatest life to come. Amen.

Those who have followed my criticism of the Pentecostal movement and prosperity gospel many of them preach know that my chief dispute with them is on this very matter of gospel preaching. Many of these churches have succeeded in doing everything in church life except preach a gospel message. This is the reason why they hold New Year services, proclaiming all the good that their greedy minds can conjure but yet scurry into hiding when crisis hit the world.

If the gospel of health and wealth is true, this is the time for the big churches on the Lagos/Ibadan expressway to open up there camp and receive the sick and dying. If there is any truth that they can indeed heal the sick through prayers and fasting, they should go into the hospitals and pray for those who are afflicted by Coronavirus and let us see these people get healed. But the last I checked, these faith healing churches have also closed shop (or church) and joined the rest of the world online to hold services on the internet. So much for ability to heal the sick and so much for divine health that they claim to have.

In desperate times like these true Christians do not claim to be extra-ordinary; we do not claim to be superstars. We join the world to mourn as they mourn. We join the medical teams to heal the sick. We open up our churches to minister to the sick and dying. We proclaim the gospel of hope: the saving message of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And we plead with God to have mercy on the whole world and save humanity. This is what I think the Christian response should be in a time of plagues like this.

© Deji Yesufu

Source: https://www.facebook.com/1505609702848568/posts/2729838200425706/

VBCampaign:


In desperate times like these true Christians do not claim to be extra-ordinary; we do not claim to be superstars. We join the world to mourn as they mourn. We join the medical teams to heal the sick. We open up our churches to minister to the sick and dying. We proclaim the gospel of hope: the saving message of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And we plead with God to have mercy on the whole world and save humanity. This is what I think the Christian response should be in a time of plagues like this.

© Deji Yesufu

Source: https://www.facebook.com/1505609702848568/posts/2729838200425706/

What is this saving message when you cannot demonstrate the power to save?

LordReed:

What is this saving message when you cannot demonstrate the power to save?

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Where is power to perform miracles in that scripture?

The gospel understood and believed is what creates true saving faith.

Most of the testimony to "power" by Pentecostals is fruad.

VBCampaign:


Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Where is power to perform miracles in that scripture?

The gospel understood and believed is what creates true saving faith.

Most of the testimony to "power" by Pentecostals is fruad.

Well then good to know it's a fraud.