The Beauty of a Christian Worldview in a Time of Panic

The zombie apocalypse is coming–guard your toilet paper?

I (along with some family members) hiked bottom of the Grand Canyon early Thursday morning and then out on Saturday. I was out of phone and data contact for three days. The world changed in those three days with sports cancellations, churches shutting down services, some travel suspended, and the stock market with historic swings in pricing.  And then there is the food and of all things a toilet paper shortage. We have lost our minds!

Please do not misunderstand. Health precautions are necessary, but I am not sure why people need a six month supply of toilet paper or bottled water. Hysteria, panic—those are the only words to describe some of the responses we are seeing. This world needs Jesus and Christians need to respond in a biblical way. A biblical worldview gives us a sense of balance and sanity in an otherwise insane society. Here are some thoughts on how a biblical worldview informs our response to a crisis.

Faith not fear

But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; Let those also who love Your name be joyful in You. For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; with favor, You will surround him as with a shield (Psalm 5:11-12).

The command to “fear not” is found at least 365 times in the Bible–once for every day of the year. It is the most often repeated command in scripture. It is not typically a command in the sense of an order. It is encouragement for God’s people in response to divine realities. It is not an angry order to stop blubbering and behave. It is the comfort of a parent for a fearful child in a thunderstorm. Our God loves us, and He is sovereign. Pandemics do not sneak up on Him. He allows such things for a purpose and our mission is to find His particular purpose for us in the surrounding swirl of human events. In such times—in all times—we commend ourselves to the care of our loving Lord knowing that He is above all human and natural powers.

Love not selfishness

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ [a]This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these (Mark 12:30-31)

Self-preservation thinking is in full-force right now. As Christians, self-preservation should not really factor in our decision-making paradigm. Our motivations are love for our God and love for others. Sometimes the outward action is the same, but the inward motivation is completely different. Selfishness refuses to shake hands with others out of fear of getting sick. Love declines a handshake out of love for others, not wanting to pass sickness from person to person. In times of scarcity, love takes only what it needs and leaves the rest for others who need it. Love does not hoard greedily out of fear. It certainly does not use a crisis to extort gain out of the others.

Wise stewardship not panic

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your

Love does not discount reasonable self-care, but the motivation is stewardship, not selfishness. Panic reacts irrationally to what others are doing around us. Panic over-reacts. It hoards. It isolates unreasonably. Stewardship understands that our bodies belong to God and we have an obligation to care for them as his possession. Our bodies—our human lives–are the conduits of our service for our Lord in this earthly life. We care for ourselves so that we might be effective servants for Him.

However, we are also stewards of opportunity. This is a moment of opportunity. The present crisis reminds people of the fragility of human life regardless of life station. This virus has touched rich and poor alike. Even British Health Minister Nadine Dorries has tested positive for COVID-19. There are people, fearful people, that you will meet this week who will be open to the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ even more now than ever before. Will you pray that God will show you who those people are, and give you the words to point them to Jesus Christ?

We understand based upon the word of God how best to respond in this crisis. Let’s not waste this moment.