Photo by John Benitez on Unsplash 

A reflection on two years of COVID-19

As COVID-19 masking, vaccine and physical distancing requirements and  mandates get lifted around us - two years after the disease was declared a pandemic - Christians have reason to both mourn and celebrate, as we look back at this journey.

We have only been able to get to this point with much pain and tears and this increasing return to “normal” would have been impossible 12 or 18 months ago, without significant sacrifices and contributions from everyone around the world. For some of us, this meant being willing to roll up our sleeves and take a newly developed vaccine, trusting God to use the wonders of science to achieve His ends. For many, it was changing how we work and play. For most, the pandemic led to separation from our spiritual communities. For all, it resulted in precious lost moments with family and loved ones.

We know that the virus has not affected everyone equally - we have all been in the same storm but not in the same boat, so the grief will be greater with some than others. For example, many lost their lives to the disease, but for others, it provided a means of livelihood. While some lost jobs, some gained profit. Whereas vaccines were readily available in richer countries, poorer nations had few. And even though those relatively younger, healthier and wealthier fared better with COVID, our seniors, those with pre-existing health conditions, as well as working class or minority groups, were hit real hard. Not surprising, these differences made it difficult to agree on the best way to tackle the problem.

As we turn the corner on this disease, it may be that the largest scars that still remain will be from the social disharmony we have seen over the last two years. Even in Christian communities united by the work of the Cross, COVID-19 has left relationships frayed or even torn, due to disagreements about how to respond to the virus in a godly way. From the beginning of the pandemic, we have been at odds on what God would like us to do. We have argued with each other, questioned each other’s motives, and even challenged the Christian and Biblical integrity of our brothers and sisters. In some instances, our deep-seated cultural values towards individualism (me over we) or collectivism (we over me), depending on the social norms of the countries in which we were raised, or on our ingrained personal dispositions, have likely shaped our views and attitudes much more than our common theological convictions. Different Christian groups have pursued and developed their own COVID-19 narratives in an attempt to make sense of the disorientation thrust upon us, and unfortunately political opportunists on the left and right have taken advantage of weaknesses and divisions in the church on this issue to advance their quest for power. All of this has been burdensome and even overwhelming, no matter what your stand has been in these debates.

Yet, as COVID-19 measures start to wind down, we have reasons to rejoice, in spite of the strife and struggles. In the unfailing words of Scripture, the testing of our faith produces endurance. We have grown in the spiritual fruit of long-suffering as our patience has been stretched thin. As Christians living in the free world, not being able to meet in person for worship has given us greater appreciation and perhaps more empathy for the steadfast, persecuted Christians in countries where this is the everyday accepted reality. We have learned that we don’t have to agree on everything to be joined in the fellowship of Christ. We have learned that we have much still to learn about and from each other, that we must humbly continue to seek wisdom and understanding from God as we navigate our differences, and that we must forever return to Christ alone as our moral compass.

Christians around the world have been taught through this time how to intercede, how to serve others, how to hope against hope, how to share our heavenly hope, how to let go of earthly things to seek the eternal, how to love our neighbours and how to innovate. We have learned how to be Kingdom partners with the Holy Spirit in the work of Shalom in a broken and desperate world. Above all, we rejoice because we have experienced the faithfulness of God in delivering us from evil and showing us that He leads us through the darkness into the light.

No one had traveled this COVID-19 road before, but God had foreseen it, from beginning to end. Our own view is always limited, compared to God’s, because as the Apostle Paul himself confessed, we see through a mirror, darkly. So, may God help us set aside the disagreements. May he show us how to be angry, but sin not, so that we may give and receive forgiveness. May we see with spiritual eyes that in our COVID conflicts, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, often clothed in ideological garments. And may Christ heal our wounds so we can find the grace to move forward together.

Yours faithfully.