Making Sense of the Covid-19 Pandemic

How do we make sense of Covid-19? Is God involved? What should we learn? What should we do?

This article tries to draw a 'big picture' for Christian readers. (Others might also find parts useful.) It is written from the perspective of a God who is active in the world (including its secular aspects) and who loves the entire Creation [Note-1]. I do not believe God caused Covid-19, nor do I believe it is a punishment. But might Covid-19 have been allowed by God as a warning?

From both Christian and secular debates, it seems to me that there are seven things to understand, each able to begin with 'R'.

·       Realities that Covid-19 opens us up to;

·       Responsibility: Covid-19 reminds us we are all responsible, some especially so;

·       Representation: Covid-19 calls Christians to higher responsibility;

·       Repentance: Covid-19 calls for a change in direction;

·       Rewiring: Covid-19 calls us towards a 'New Normal';

·       Redemption of the world: the Gospel of Christ rewires;

·       Reassurance: Covid-19 and Christ.

The bulleted style encourages readers to think about each point and allows reading in any order.

Realities that Covid-19 Opens Us Up To

·       Up to now, climate disasters hit the poorer peoples more than the affluent, even though arguably caused by the affluent.

·       By contrast, Covid-19 hit the affluent peoples first -

·       those who fly and travel more;

·       those who spend more on entertainment, partying and eating-out;

·       those who demand esoteric goods;

·       the affluent economies despite their superior technology and health systems.

·       Indeed, Covid-19 seems to have actually saved lives in China and India - by removing pollution from cities [Note-2].

·       I find myself asking "Why has Covid-19 hit the affluent world, before the poorer world?"

·       Is God at work, and if so, in what ways? Is God sending a warning to the affluent peoples?

·       By stripping our lives of non-essentials, is God allowing Covid-19 to reveal that our affluent lifestyles and economies are bloated? With, for example:

·       Extravagance in travel, entertainment, socialising, 'hospitality', exotic food, gadgets, art ...? (30% of UK food is wasted.)

·       Unnecessary business trips, lunches, meetings, insurance, reports, ...?

·       Useless league tables, prestige, iconic projects, ...?

·       Yet did not many of us aspire to, and expect, these things as 'normal'? Should we?

·       Demanding, providing and consuming these non-essentials is harmful - resulting in obesity and depresssion, and climate change, injustice, cruelty to animals, air pollution, biodiversity loss, ... [Note-3]

·       Much of that harm landed on those who did not cause it.

Responsibility: Covid-19 Reminds Us We Are All Responsible, Some Especially So

·       Covid-19 most likely emerged from mistreatment of animals and was spread by a surfeit of flying, arguably the most harmful, least necessary kind of transport.

·       Covid-19 reveals our responsibilities.

·       Genesis 1:26-28. Has not God given all human beings the dignity of general responsibility for the rest of Creation?

·       Revelation 11:18: "The time (kairos) has come to destroy those who destroy the earth." For the first time ever, humanity's population amplified by technology and economy is destroying the planet and ecosystems.

·       At this kairos, I emphasise climate and environmental responsibility alongside responsibility to the less privileged. ("Creation" here means both human and non-human.)

·       Responsibility at all levels: individuals, businesses, governments, society.

·       Extra responsibility of three groups of people:

·       The affluent have extra responsibility to use their wealth for healing Creation, rather than looking after themselves and their own. (e.g. Luke 3:11; Luke 12:48; I Timothy 1:17-18)

·       Leaders (politicians, business leaders, media, academics and others) have extra responsibility because they shape the mindsets of others and the structures of society. (e.g. Ezekiel 34:1-10; Micah 3; James 3:1)

·       Those who represent God have special responsibility; see next.

Representation: Covid-19 calls Christians to Higher Responsibility

·       Christians represent Jesus Christ among all peoples to demonstrate God's attitude and character of love, joy, peace ... (Acts 1:8; Galatians 5:22-23), and partner with God in saving the world. [Note-4]

·       John 3:16. "Those who believe" are to be the means by which God works full salvation in "the world". Notice: "the world" - not just human beings, but also the non-human Creation and secular aspects of life.

·       Do not Christians involved in politics in affluent nations tick all three boxes of extra responsibility above?

·       Are we fulfilling our responsibility? Two warnings to those who represent God:

·       Ezekiel 16:49. Have we acquiesced with the harmful non-necessities of the affluent lifestyle? Do we join in heading towards "affluence, arrogance, unconcern" for which God destroyed Sodom and exiled Judah?

·       Jeremiah 45. God pulls down, not what humanity built, but what God built, uprooted what God planted (Israel and Judah), because they misrepresented God, seeking their own prosperity and prestige. Might God, who "planted" Western Christianity, "uproot" it for similar reasons? [Note-5]

·       Might Covid-19 be a warning to affluent peoples to repent? And especially to affluent Christians?

Repentance: Covid-19 Calls for a Change in Direction

·       Is Covid-19 a warning by God that we need to repent? One in a sequence of warnings over the past few decades?

·       Repentance acknowledges we were wrong, and deeply turns away from that wrong.

·       Repentance is not just remorse for past mistakes. Repentance is change of heart that remodels future actions.

·       Repentance is needed at all levels: individuals, business, government, media and society.

·       At all levels, repentance is needed over:

·       Expectations of unlimited ease and enjoyment;

·       Aspirations to ever-increasing convenience and satisfaction;

·       Attitudes of self-seeking, self-importance.

·       Idols of e.g. technology, national pride, economic growth, to or for which we sacrifice other things (e.g. environment), often without thinking. [Note-6]

·       Repentance means not "returning to normal." Our "old normal" was harmful and even evil. The 'New Normal' must be deeply different from the old, a healthier, more responsible lifestyle.

·       Christians involved in politics or the media are called to the privilege of questioning the old and leading in defining the new.

Only 9% of Britons want to return to the old normal [Note-7].

Rewiring: Covid-19 Calls Us Towards a 'New Normal'

·       What 'New Normal'? Repentance calls for rewiring, not just reprogramming (a computer metaphor).

·       Reprogramming: Distance-keeping, massive government borrowing, infrastructure projects, financial stimulus.

·       Rewiring: Lifestyles and economy redirected towards Important Good rather than Harmful Non-Essentials. Treating as important, things to which we previously gave mere lip-service (e.g. "green jobs"??).

·       Covid-19 seems like a disaster to our bloated economies. But should not bloated economies shrink - and should we not welcome that? Is it wise for governments to try to restore the old normal?

·       Has Covid-19 revealed what could be dispensed with or reduced in the New Normal? Which non-essentials? e.g. Do we need to drive or fly so much?

·       More positively, has not Covid-19 reminded us that:

·       Local walks are enjoyable and inexpensive?

·       Nature is wonderful?

·       Pollution and greenhouse gases can be reduced?

·       Family life is worth working at, instead of escaping to parties?

·       People are generous in a way that was often suppressed before?

·       Rewiring is change of what the Bible calls "heart" - not just changed plans and policies but changed aspirations, expectations and attitudes. Deeper, longer-lasting.

·       It is politics, along with media and marketing, that inculcates these.

·       Rewiring is a challenge that promises Good. How do we rewire? 

Redemption of the World: the Gospel of Christ Rewires

·       One effective rewirer of society is the Gospel of Christ. 

The Gospel's track record over 2000 years: "These men have turned the world upside down" (Acts 17:6), Francis of Assisi, the Reformation, the Puritans, abolishing the slave trade, the UK Factory Acts, the RSPCA, various revivals. (Read Tom Holland's Dominion.)

·       This is because, as Romans 8 tells us, the Gospel offers not only "no condemnation" (v.1), not just experience of God here and now (v.14-17) but Spirit-filled people healing Creation (v.18-23). [Note-8]

·       Human activity (whether Government action or Extinction Rebellion) has a role but "Lasting change is impossible without the Holy Spirit." This is the secret of sustainable rewiring. 

·       Has God presented Christians in affluent, influential nations - especially Christians involved in politics, the media and academia - with an opportunity to lead towards a New Normal that is more responsible towards God's entire Creation? [Note-9]

·       We must not impose but firmly-gently challenge. In my experience, posing challenging questions is effective - at three levels:

·       Society. Questioning (e.g. via parables) can expose idolatry, selfish aspirations and unjust expectations - especially the impact of lifestyle on Creation (human and non-human).

·       Government. We can pose the question, which harmful, non-essential sectors of our old economies should be reduced? [Note-10] We can question the assumptions that lay behind the old normal and might undermine the New Normal.

·       Individuals and Businesses. Our questioning can help people turn their aspirations towards a good, more responsible New Normal.

·       To lead in rewiring is not an imposition but a privilege and challenge. God offers Reassurance through Christ.

Reassurance: Covid-19 and Christ

If God is active, Covid-19 need not be seen as chaos or an enemy, merely to be overcome. Instead, because of the precedent set in Jeremiah 45, we might see it as allowed by God, as a warning to humanity to shift direction towards a more responsible New Normal, in which we no longer "destroy the earth". If what has been argued above is correct, then Christians involved in politics, especially those in affluent nations, are called by God to take a lead in working out and securing this New Normal. Will we take the opportunity God offers us to work with him, to lead the world in repenting and rewiring towards a more responsible New Normal?

·       Are we scared of ridicule and ostracism? Let it be so! - because Jesus promised persecution as a privilege.

·       Do we feel helpless? But does not Christ have the power? Does not the Holy Spirit bestow special giftings?

·       Do we feel it's useless to try because the governments have already started along the road of trying to restore the old normals? Yet, cannot God do the unexpected, as he did with Hezekiah, and Paul?

Jesus asked his disciples "Why are you so afraid?" (Mark 4:40). Has he not reassured us of God's protection, provision, pardon, and long-term plan, in which humans - including Christians and Jews - have a part, and in which "Jesus wins"?

If anything of the above is from God, then God can enable our action in unexpected ways. Prayerfully discuss each point.

Notes and Further Reading

Note-1. 'A New View in Theology and Practice' "http://abxn.org/nv/".

Note-2. Covid-19 has saved lives - because lockdown reduces air pollution, which kills 7 million per year. See "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-020-0581-y".

Note-3. 'The Harm of Affluence' "http://abxn.org/ccge/affluence.harm.html".

Note-4. Jews represent(ed) God as nation among nations; Christians represent God as people among people. See "http://abxn.org/nv/representation.html".

Note-5. See "http://abxn.org/discussion/jeremiah45.html".

Note-6. See Bob Goudzwaard's excellent wee volume Idols of Our Time, IVP, 1984.

Note-7. Only 9% of Britons want to return to the 'old normal'. See "https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-only-9-of-britons-want-life-to-return-to-normal-once-lockdown-is-over-11974459"

Note-8. 'Three dimensions of salvation.' "http://abxn.org/nv/3ds.html"; "http://abxn.org/nv/romans8.html".

Note-9. TearFund has produced a good booklet and study guide on 'Rebooting': "https://www.tearfund.org/en/about_you/action/the_world_rebooted/".

Note-10. Should we regrow the harmful parts of our economies? See "https://youtu.be/X_YOfEGMrNA" e.g. aviation, tourism, exotic foods, gambling?

This article was written by guest contributor, Andrew Basden, of the Christian Academic Network and Professor of Human Factors and Philosophy at the University of Salford. It first appeared on his blog (http://abxn.org/covid19.html), with additional notes, but has been updated for the CiP website in July 2020.  

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