I often hear religious leaders, well-established suburban churches, because they are encouraged by the evangelical fervor of our church. They are usually surprised when I say that we do not have one, an awareness team or a “evangelization program”. They think I exaggerate when I tell them that, for most church members, talking to people about Jesus is part of their daily lives.
This may seem too simplistic, but this is our reality here in South Africa’s slums, and I suspect this is also true for most churches committed to the gospel in difficult places.
- For now.
- Together with the rest of the world.
- We are facing an unprecedented pandemic that has reached.
- As a final judgment.
- A very independent and self-confident world.
Many rich countries in the first world have fallen to their knees for coronavirus, for the first time in decades they have no answer, their progressive wealth, intelligence and scientific spirit cannot produce the result they desperately need. In short, all humanity is obliged, to look at the reality of death in a way that the world has not seen since the Spanish influenza epidemic in 1918. Suddenly, the blogosphere and social media platforms are flooded with prayer requests as they awaken to God’s reality.
If countries known as world leaders and superpowers are shaken to the bottom, what hope is there for those living in the world’s most difficult and poor places?
In my context, a difficult place means a violent, poor, gang-infested community and drug addicts. Here, murder, prostitution, HIV and child abuse are as common as flu. This is a place where the gospel is rare and yet the ?We have many empty religions of Christ and his gospel!
For most people in our context, church and death are what we know; they both walk hand in hand. A typical Sunday will have many people who reject Christ by going to religious services, but that does not include everyone, as in many places, the poorest in our communities are the least affected, for example, the only way for a gangster to set foot in a church building is when one of his brothers dies and a church like ours offers to bury him.
Funerals like this force people to face mortality and give us the opportunity to preach the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We take these opportunities very seriously. Most of the time, it’s the only chance we have to face those who otherwise never hear the gospel.
This is the opportunity offered by this Coronavirus, an opportunity in the wake of a global pandemic in which the strongest and richest, as well as the poorest and most violent, face the uncertainty of death at their doorstep. At least this is a moment, that has given us God’s mysterious providence, for local churches around the world to courageously proclaim the gospel. These are really dark times.
But no darkness can turn off the light of the gospel, while the world remains within?Lock? And the movement is limited to a minimum, we wear masks and adhere to strict social distance guidelines. But Christian, keep an eye on this truth: the gospel is not in “Blockage”. The gospel has no restrictions and its movements are not limited. The gospel refuses to wear a mask and does not know the social distance. There remains “the power of God for the salvation of all who believe” (Rom. 1:16).
Therefore, shepherd brothers, do not stop preaching passionately. We are locked up, but “the word of God is not handcuffed” (2 Tim 2:9). This current crisis should serve to promote the Gospel (Ph 1:12) and, regardless of what the local church may suffer during this time, all contribute to our good (Rom 8:28), to be in praise of the glory of God (Ep. 1,12). At this time, God continues to do all things according to the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11). The coronavirus hasn’t changed that.
These are moments of great opportunity for the church to be the light of the gospel when we see the black cloud of death seeing itself in our countries and communities by this strange servant of God named COVID-19.
This reminds me of Joel 2:25, where God called the grasshoppers who devastated Israel’s food supply “My great army, which I sent against you others. “This specific chapter of Joel speaks of the Lord’s Day, “a day of darkness and dense darkness, day of clouds and darkness” (Jl 2:2). But in the same chapter we see God’s great love and mercy for his people; He calls them to turn away from their sins and return to it; it is God’s call to a wicked and rebellious people in the midst of a time of judgment. It would appear to be a natural disaster for the rest of the world was, in fact, an act of God that poured out a catastrophe on a rebellious people.
However, throughout all this destruction, God has made known his intentions: “Turn to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, and belatedly angry, great in goodness, and repents of evil” (Jl 2:13). God reveals the temperament of his heart to his people, even in the midst of his sin, and seals it with a promise of salvation: “And then will I come that my Spirit may spread upon all flesh?(Jl 2:28).
Once again, now the Lord has united the whole world, focusing on a common threat, for which no one has a solution. People everywhere face their own mortality.
In the face of death, are science, the theory of evolution, philosophies and even the so-called gospel of prosperity exposed as they really are?You realize, when someone faces the harsh and serious reality of death, that empty theories are simply no longer useful.
So this is an opportunity for the church. Let us be these “ambassadors in the name of Christ, as if God exhorted through us” (2Co 5. 20). Let’s be the ones with beautiful feet who preach the good news. We will be the beacon that guides these ships, destroyed by war, to safety, as we enlighten them with the light of the cross of Jesus Christ; announcing the victory that was obtained there, by the substitute atonement of our Lord, for sinners who repented and believed in the gospel, we will turn all communication, with friends and family and with all who want to hear, into a called urgency.
The reality of death must bring urgency not only to the lost soul seeking a way out, but also to the believer who seeks to clarify the way of salvation.
Now let me make one thing clear: it is right to pray, to ask God to stand in solidarity and to send us a vaccine or a cure for the virus, it is true that we mourn the deaths of many of those who succumb, we certainly take security measures. wash our hands, wear masks and stay away from each other. We certainly respect the blocking rules that our respective governments have set for us. These must be honest before the Lord, we do all this because we trust in God.
But none of this replaces the need to invoke the Lord for salvation. I love the way Joel Chapter 2 ends and I think it will be an incentive for you:
And it will come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for those who will be saved will be on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, as the Lord has promised; and among the survivors, those whom the Lord calls. (Joel 2:32).