I am perplexed. I am in a strait betwixt two. On the one hand I want to emerge into the liberty of an exit strategy from lockdown. On the other hand, I don’t want to return to the ‘normality’ of the world I have left behind. Yet I perceive that many professing Christians are longing for a return to ‘normality’, and I wonder why so!?

I sense a superficiality of perception and comprehension among so many professing Christians regarding the Coronavirus Crisis. According to them it is alarming. Of course, it is; it is alarming indeed. But to what meaningful end will the alarm be heard in the Christian’s ear? What is God saying to Christians in these strange circumstances? What has precipitated the setting off of such an alarm? Now, the superficial, and the casual, and the flippant, will simply persevere until it’s all over. They will emerge into a future which, for them, will have no particular consequential connection to the past. The Coronavirus has been but a blip, albeit a significant blip, in the history of 2020. What need have they in trying to analyse or discern why such and such a thing came to pass in 2020? I will tell you why! “For God hath foreordained all things whatsoever comes to pass”. Tell me, does God have eternal blips, or eternal purposes?


Not wishing to write at length on this matter at present, I will cut to the chase. I am somewhat downcast to observe that for many professing Christians the attitude which commonly prevails goes something like this ….. Let’s get organised, let's get into groups online, let’s encourage each other in whatever ways we can, given the restrictive nature of the circumstances which presently prevail. Let’s chat online, let’s arrange ‘social distancing singalongs’ online, let’s send innovative technological videos to each other, etc. And the question may arise in your heart as it did in mine ….. “And what’s wrong with these things”? My answer to that question would be ….. “Nothing really, and yet everything possibly”!

It’s not so much about the merits or demerits of this or that activity but rather that such activity alone fails to answer to the heart of the problem. It misses the point. It misses the mark. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” saith the scriptures. All have ‘missed the mark’ The only target that matters is the glory of God. Until that goal, that target, is achieved all else is vanity.

So herein lies my sadness. I am thinking that, at best, many professing Christians today who even consider God to have an inherent purpose in the present Coronavirus crisis see themselves, as it were, taking refuge, like Noah and his family, in the ark as it passes through adverse global circumstances ….. (now there’s an understatement indeed). Noah and his family were, however, actually experiencing the judgement of God upon the world, albeit from a position of dreadful safety. I may be wrong, but I see not Noah and his family dwelling at ease within the ark. I see not Noah and his family looking for new ways to engage the one with the other whilst having to fulfil their daily tasks and responsibilities within the ark. And I would imagine that as day followed upon day down in the bowels of the ark, in the midst of the global catastrophic deluge, Noah and his family would have grown ever more accustomed to living in the light of the judgement of the great day that had come upon the world.

But I move on now to consider another who experienced the displeasure of God whilst taking shelter in the bowels of an ocean going vessell, even Jonah! Unlike Noah, Jonah had not here been found faithful, nor was he here conscious of having found grace in the eyes of the Lord. His disobedient behaviour had precipitated the great storm that had engulfed him and ‘those in the same boat’ as him. Not that the others around Jonah were blameless concerning sin but this particular crisis was as a result of Jonah’s sin, not of the sins of those around him. And what do we read of Jonah at such a time of crisis? “But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep”.

I cannot help but see reflections of Jonah today as I watch so many professing Christians asleep and altogether oblivious as to what their spiritual response ought to be to the raging storm presently engulfing the world globally. What is perhaps even worse is the fact that some will simply have buttoned down the hatches, dug out their jigsaw puzzles, their computer games, etc. and will wait passively till the storm, hopefully, has abated.

As I draw to a close, it is not my intention to even dare pronounce on the providential significance of the global spread of the Coronavirus. A positive aspect thereof, however, must surely be the restraint of much overt sin in both public and private establishments which, by their very nature, facilitate and perpetuate such sinful behaviour. I need not be specific here. We all know the identity of many such places. What concerns me, however, is that so many professing Christians are oblivious to what might well be their own part in the precipitation of this crisis.

What do I mean by this? I mean that such is the superficiality of the Christian profession today that the deepest ‘spiritual’ reflections arising from within the ‘evangelical church’ in general is the thought that God may well be displeased with the world generally and is perhaps bringing a sinful world to it’s knees in order that the unconverted inhabitants thereof might consider their ways. Now such reflections have a semblance of spirituality but are often accompanied with an almost trivial misunderstanding that God’s displeasure can only be directed towards those who are ‘evangelically unchurched’. This misunderstanding is then taken to it’s logical conclusion by many who are ‘evangelically churched’ who thereafter conclude that they themselves might actually be the answer to the problem, at least in part. How so? By praying for a sinful world of those less secure than themselves and who find themselves in the midst of a global life-threatening pandemic.

And how can this be wrong? Why would I dare to find fault with what is surely an undeniable and commendable plan of action? Do I not believe in the power of prayer? Should Christians not pray for the unconverted? Have I no compassion on the unconverted? I will not be drawn into answering these simplistically obvious questions but I will rather indicate why I have serious concerns regarding such a common ‘evangelical’ response.

I have no doubt that the exceeding sinfulness of sin is a global pandemic of an even more serious nature than that of the Coronavirus. But I am not ignorant of a contemporary superficial evangelicalism which has grown monstrous ‘arms and legs’ over a number of decades. I ask myself…. “If I as a Christian am to be  part of the solution by praying for others, should I not first ask if I have been part of the problem over all of these years of spiritual declension?” That is surely a reasonable starting point in my struggle to understand what I should pray for as I ought!? Repentance for personal sins before petition on the behalf of others; surely!

Of Amos 6:1-7 Matthew Henry said …”….. Careless sinners are every where in danger; but those at ease in Zion, who are stupid, vainly confident, and abusing their privileges, are in the greatest danger. Yet many fancy themselves the people of God, who are living in sin, and in conformity to the world. But the examples of others’ ruin forbid us to be secure”.

Two forms of prayer, are set before us in the light of such thoughts. The first commences ….. “Lord, We only are left”; the second commences “Lord, we all have sinned”! Will now the professing people of God come to themselves, to their senses even, and fall penitently before a thrice holy God remembering the words of Isaiah …… “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land”. How many times will professing Christians utter these words as if to imply that others have offended God and we, the blameless people of God, are here on hand to intercede on their behalf? Read the text again, and again, and again if necessary. It is rather the professing people of God who are to humble themselves. It is they who are to seek God’s face. Do you see this … the face of God has been lost to “my people”? It is they who are here addressed as sinners. It is they who are in need of forgiveness and it is they who are being held accountable for the state of the land. Have we ever even paused for a moment to think that such might be the problem today? I am not saying that this is the definitive explanation as to what is happening in terms of the Coronavirus. But it might be; either in total or, at the very least, in part!

And what of the call, by those not knowing what to say, for our Queen, or our Prime Minister, or whoever else comes to mind at any particular time, to call the Nation to prayer? How delusionally trifling is this? Call the ungodly to prayer? To what end? That they might harden their hearts even further by pretending to a distress of soul which is but a plea to return to ‘normality’ whatever that might mean? Is it not written…. “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me…”? Has that righteous precept been put on hold for now, or what? Such a National call would but answer to yet another superficial ‘evangelical’ soundbite which carries with it the echo of a deluded and sanctimonious self-righteousness. You see … if such a call is made, the professing, and as yet personally unrepentant, ‘people of God’ can assume to themselves a lofty standing in relation to the wider community. They know what is really required in this crisis whilst others don’t. The solution is in their hands, is it not? Perhaps so, but the problem may well have been, and may yet still be, in their heart, and in their soul, and in their mind, and in their strength!

‘’New Calvinism’’ - A Personal Testimony

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Some time ago I attended a meeting which, unbeknown to me beforehand, would predicate a way forward for the plebs (sorry; saints) of a local evangelical congregation. My eldest son had intended to be present at this meeting but had not been able so to do. Upon returning home I sent the following text to him (please excuse the vernacular) ………

‘’Once again like Mary, you chose the better part last night. It was the most depressing call to arms I’ve heard in a while from a visiting preacher. Times have changed apparently and we must change and our methods must change. We must be ready to bend and sway with these winds of change! We must be ready to share our time, talents and money with others of the …. .. …….. ‘gospel partnership’. We must be ready to embrace the culture and abandon the old ways of working. We must be ready for shared meetings with those in the partnership. Paul being all things to all men means we are to be more flexible’’. Ayeright!!!!! What a load of rubbish. (19 June 2014).

Now; whatever saith such modernisers, the spiritual will continue to cry out ….. ‘’Is there not a cause?’’ And such a cry will presuppose, without a peradventure, an ongoing spiritual conflict quite apart from any attempt to rationalise, and subsequently develop, a strategy for mission today which will fly in the face of spiritual principles which heretofore have ushered in both Reformation and Revival. No amount of theological ‘revisionism’ however well rehearsed (as was the aforementioned message which I later learned had already been posted on ‘You-tube’ following it’s exposure to an earlier congregation of evangelical ‘guinea-pigs’) will lead the true saints of God to abandon ‘’the good old ways’’ wherein alone they shall find rest for their souls - even in the midst of physical distress and on-going spiritual suffering. ‘’Shall I be carried to the skies; On flowery beds of ease: While others fought to win the prize; And sail through bloody seas?’’

Such a carnal echo of doctrinal compromise (as that referred to above) will certainly not resonate with the spiritual, nor answer to such a time as this, but must defer to a faith which challenges all such carnal logic. Have ye not heard that John (Baptist) was a voice crying in the wilderness; not an echo seeking to appeal to contemporary evangelical society on the grounds of pragmatic and domestic expediency. ‘’But what would John the Baptist know? How many followers did he have?’’ 

Reflections Upon The Coronavirus Crisis

May 5th, 2020