I recently published an article, entitled “There is STILL Hope For 2020”. You can find it here:
http://www.scottduck.com/there-is-still-hope-for-2020/
In that article, I looked at several verses of Scripture that pertain to our current situation with the Coronavirus and I offered some commentary on all that Scripture as a whole. However, I did not go into much detail on any of those individual passages. In the next articles, I began to take a deeper look at the Scripture which I had shared in that initial article.
First, I focused on learning and living The Word. You can find that article here:
http://www.scottduck.com/learning-and-living-the-word/
Second, I looked at a Christian’s duty to government. You can find that article here:
http://www.scottduck.com/god-and-government-a-christians-duty-to-respect-authority/
Third, I discussed that fear is not of God. You can find that article here:
http://www.scottduck.com/fear-is-not-of-god/
Now, I would like to continue my deeper dive into my look at the Scripture in that initial article.
Mark 12
30 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.’ 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.”
Matthew 5
13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
I will say one thing for the Coronavirus. It has made our society even more polarized and opinionated than we already were and that’s saying a whole lot. Thanks largely to social media, we live in an age where it seems like everyone has an opinion about everything and it seems like just about everyone feels like they have to express that opinion. Many of these people, if you don’t share their opinion, then they openly consider you to be an idiot. I said that this is largely thanks to social media. In truth, I suppose that people have always been this way. It’s just a part of our sinful nature. Social media has just made it easier to be this way and more apparent that it is this way. And, sadly, it’s often even this way among Christians. That, my friends, is tragic.
Where is the love of Christ that we are commanded to show to others? Where is the light that we are commanded to let shine before the world? If there is no love showing, then there is no light shining. For too many of us, nothing is shining because our ego is eclipsing our light.
If we want God to help us with healing our land, in 2 Chronicles 7:14, the first thing God says His people must do is to humble themselves. What is humility? It’s basically the polar opposite of pride. Pride, more than any other sin, will get in the way of our relationship with God and our ability to truly serve Him. There is a whole lot to say about this and a whole lot of Scripture about it but let’s just get down to basics. Let’s go back to the beginning.
Let’s look at when the Devil was trying to talk Eve into eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Eve said that she could not do that because God had told her and Adam that, if they did eat from the tree, they would surely die.
Genesis 3
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
Eve saw that the tree was desirable to make one wise. What wisdom was she thinking of? She and Adam talked to God every day. They could ask Him anything they wanted. This tree offered a different kind of wisdom. The Devil told her that, if she ate from the tree, she would be like God, knowing good from evil. He was telling her that she could set her own standard for right and wrong. Eating the fruit made Eve wise in her own eyes. Then she gave to Adam and he ate and, through that single act of disobedience, sin entered the world. Ultimately, that’s what all sin really comes down to, thinking we know better than God, in other words, pride.
That pride doesn’t only make us think we know better than God. Often, it also makes us think we know better than everyone else too. Look at all the stuff flying around right now about the Coronavirus. There are lots of conflicting opinions. Many of them have seemingly good information and sound logic backing them up. Many of them appear to be nothing more than rambling born of emotion, albeit sometimes understandable emotion. All of these opinions have one thing in common and that is that they are just that, opinions. Opinions is what we humans have. Indisputable facts is what God has. We so easily get those two things reversed and we just can’t wait to get our “facts” out there and set everybody straight.
Let me ask you a question. If you have to make a choice between the two, would you prefer to be right or to make a difference? Think about that for a minute.
Think of a subject that you feel strongly about and that you like to talk about. This applies to many things but let’s pick on the Coronavirus situation for now. Do you feel that we should open things up yesterday or do you think we should keep things locked down for months more or somewhere in between? Why do you feel the way that you do? Now, let’s say that you can articulate a strong and persuasive argument in favor of taking whatever course of action that you feel should be taken. Let’s say that you post that on FaceBook. Other than making you feel better, unless you have a strong background in epidemiology or a related field, is that going to change anything? If you don’t have the credentials, are the authorities that God has put in charge going to listen to you? If you do have the proper background and credentials, then FaceBook is probably not the place to put forward your theories. If you don’t, then what is getting on your soap box going to accomplish? Is it going to make any difference in how the situation is going to be handled? Realistically, no, it is not.
Now, let’s say that you put all that aside. Let’s assume that you stop putting all that time into perusing the news and writing dissenting FaceBook posts. Let’s say that you spend some of this extra time that you may now have and take a little time to read the Bible and pray to God and try to get to know Him better, to know what His idea of love really is. Let’s say that you reach out to share a nugget of that new found truth with someone who you feel could use it. Let’s say that you reach out to your elderly neighbor to make sure that they have everything they need sense they probably don’t need to get out and go to the store right now. Let’s say that you take a few minutes to think about all of the things that you have to be thankful for, right now, even in the midst of this situation, and thank God for that and then maybe do a little post about that. Will all that make a difference to you and to those around you? Yes, absolutely. We are told that our labor for Him will never be in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58 ) and that His Word will never return void (Isaiah 55:11). We may sometimes see the fruits of our love and labor immediately or it may be a long time. Sometimes, we never see tangible proof of the impact that His love has working through us but we are guaranteed that there will be an impact.
I do get it. I see things on FaceBook and YouTube and in the media concerning the Coronavirus situation that drive me crazy. I do not have a background in epidemiology but I do have some background in statistical analysis and modeling in another field which, at a very basic level, can be applied to epidemiology. About a week ago, I started thinking about how crazy some certain positions are that some are taking concerning the Coronavirus situation and I wrote a FaceBook post with all kinds of numbers and calculations to back up my assertion that their assertion was crazy. I wrote it and read it over and got my wife to read it over. It was good. I was just about to post it.
Then, I started thinking. I asked myself a question. What would this accomplish? It would make some people nod their heads in agreement, it might make some people shake their heads in confusion, and it would make some people mad. I started thinking about that last group, the ones it would make mad. These would, of course, be people who’s opinion was contrary to my own. This would also, of course, be the people that I would have been mostly targeting with the post. After all, there would have been no need to change people’s minds who already agreed with me. The thing is, most of these people who disagreed with me were not going to change their minds because of one FB post and, even if one or two of them did begrudgingly admit that I had a point, what difference was that going to make? No difference at all. I most likely wouldn’t even have the satisfaction of them telling me that I was right and, besides, them agreeing wouldn’t change anything. The people reading and being persuaded by my posts would not be any of the people who God had put in charge of handling the Corona situation. Guess what? Neither was I one of the people who God had put in charge of handling the Corona situation. I was just a guy with an opinion that I wanted to get out there, an opinion that had no chance at all of making a positive difference.
What about those people my opinion would make mad? What if they had been or would later fall under the reach of this ministry in some way, through our speaking or books or articles or videos? Would they perhaps be less willing to listen to what God had to say to them through this ministry that He has blessed us with? I do believe that all work done to spread God’s love and teach His Word has an impact because God promises us that. However, I do also believe that the impact of any Christian’s ministry can be negatively impacted, can be lessened, through their own willful actions. I believe that sometimes we rob ourselves of the joy of having God abundantly work through us because, if we give Him reason to, He will find another vessel better suited to the work He wants to accomplish. This work He has called me to is the most fulfilling thing I have ever done and the most important thing I have ever done. I didn’t want to take a chance on damaging that work. So, regarding Coronavirus epidemiology, I decided that it was time for me to sit down and shut up.
We are not all called to full time vocational Christian ministry. However, we are all called to minister for Him, in some way. That ministry, no matter what it is for each of us, has the potential to have a big impact for God in this world. It’s our chance to truly make a big difference. We need to be careful that we don’t let our mouth and our keyboard get in the way of making that difference, by getting so upset about all the things where we aren’t going to make a difference. In other words, a lot of us need to sit down and shut up.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that we should never take a stand on anything for fear of offending someone. We should always take a stand on God’s Word and His Word has a lot in it on which to take a stand. Ironically, that seems to be the one thing that people seem less and less willing to take a stand on. God’s Word often does offend. That is because It is of God and our flesh is of this world so they are at odds with one-another. We are often quickly willing to offend on the basis of our own words but usually not nearly so quick to offend on the basis of God’s Word. Our own offensive words, when clearly understood, still offend. God’s Word, when clearly understood through His illumination, allow us to know Him and communicate love in a way that nothing else ever could.
If we offend by our own words, then we may never have a chance to convey God’s Word and, through it, His love. Earlier, I asked if you would choose to be right or to actually make a difference. You see, That was not just a hypothetical question. This very well may be a choice that we are making, every day, without even realizing it. What choice are you making? Is it one that is pleasing to God? If not, what are you going to do about that? You may find that, like me, you sometimes need to ask God to help you to sit down and shut up. This world will be much better off if we will slow down on our talking and typing and start really listening to God. We just may find that what we hear is His love and, as a result, what we see is His light, beginning to chase away the shadows.
