I believe one of the gifts which God has given me is the ability of observation. I tend to pay close attention to everything in order to evaluate certain outcomes.
One thing I have noticed as of late is how Covid-19 is aftecting Christians. Now whether you believe the ideas and teachings regarding Covid is entirely up to you, but what I have witnessed is that many Christians have allowed Covid to completely change the way they act.
Covid has not only changed our everyday life and work, and even the way we worship, but I’m seeing that Covid is changing our Christian Character.
When churches began to open again it came with a wide range of rules. Mask wearing became normal, no signs of affection or greeting were allowed. A census was taken on attendees. Even the way you entered and exited church was mandated by some as to treat church members like cattle.
Social distancing also became a thing in church and only certain groups were allowed to sit with each other. Now with all these rules in effect and the fear that has been spread about covid, I thought to myself let’s see what role this plays on the mind of others. I witnessed two things and these two things are in no way judgmental just merely observational.
Of all the people in the church there were three groups that I observed. All three groups treated each other based on what they believed about Covid.
Group One
This group was not too concerned about the virus after some time. They were more happy to be at church and were more welcoming to others. They showed signs of affection to others by hugging and shaking of hands (which is a big no no in many places). These individuals maintain a positive attitude and seemed as if things were just as they were before Covid. Often they spoke of, having faith that God is in control and that we need to be faithful and trust Him.
Group Two
The second group I noticed tended to be followers. They weren’t sure about anything and just expressed themselves in a way that was dependent on who they interacted with. Sometimes they were happy, other times they were a bit standoffish. When others wanted to hug them they obliged in return. When others just wanted an elbow bump or just say hi, they were ok with that as well. All in all, this group was a neutral group. But as most neutral groups they don’t want to make a decision out of fear to offend others.
Group Three
The third was an eye opening group. This group of people strongly feared covid but still found themselves attending church services, for many different reasons which I will not go into. This third group seemed to have a drastic change. They were no longer happy, outgoing Christians. They seemed to live in a state of panic and fear. It seemed as if they went from normal to full-on paranoia.
Also, what I observed on many occasions was this group was the most vocal when it came to following the Covid guidelines.
This group no longer had joy in their life. They were constantly looking for Covid violators and making sure that nobody sits with them that wasn’t part of their family. On several occasions, I witnessed visitors come into these churches and sit with this third group. What amazed me was this visitor was not welcomed by these people but was asked to find another seat because they are not suppose to be sitting next to them, because they’re afraid of Covid.
I also witnessed this same group of people ask some visitors and members to leave the church because some of these people sneezed or coughed. I guess these people forgot that many people have allergies which are unrelated to Covid. Fear has a way of making people paranoid.
I tend to wonder as to how these people allowed the fear of Covid to take over their lives and completely change their way of thinking. Sometimes they react towards others as if they didn’t have a walk with God.
Group Four
There is a fourth group which stays at home and does online service, but my focus in this article is just the first three.
We all have different ways of thinking and expressing ourselves. My concern is the drastic changes I have seen in people’s lives, post Covid. Some people believe we need to treat others like lepers or homeless people etc, while other people just maintain their belief that God is in control and they continue loving everyone.
The first and the third group make up the majority of any church. Whichever group that you are in, we always need to ask ourselves “Is it biblical?”
We may not be able to see Covid in the Bible, but in these times we can see stories of how to handle these certain situations. Also we can see how to treat others during these times of uncertainty.
I can imagine when Jesus healed people that had diseases that the disciples told Him to stay away from those people. But Jesus embraced the sick and helped them. Even the disciples had issues with others at times, like Peter, where Paul had to remind him of his actions towards others (Galatians 2:11-13).
Whatever ways you handle our current situation, know one thing. God is still in control and any situation that we are in, if we are believers we are to maintain our Christian character. If we do other than that, I believe we are losing our faith.
Ask yourself a question: Did Joseph change his character in any situation he was placed in? Did Daniel change his character every time his situation changed? Did Jesus also change?
The answer is no, regardless if it’s Covid or a natural disaster or the Sunday law itself. Christians are to maintain the same character that the Bible teaches about and not allow the world around them take away their joy, their happiness, and their calling to love and witness to others.
In a state of uncertainty, people need hope not rejection!
A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee” (Psalm 91:7).
Rey Chavez is a graduate of AFCOE and a public evangelistic speaker in His local area. He’s a passionate follower of Jesus who wants all others to feel the freedom he has experienced since finding Christ. He’s a father of two, soon to be four and is married to his amazing wife Jessica. Rey also has a private Facebook group titled Biblical Thinking which he is soon to bring to Youtube. There, he discusses many different Bible topics which also include the weekly Sabbath School lesson.