By: Kaylee Freeman
Some don’t agree with the state reopening. Some think it’s long overdue. Some are scared; some are relieved. Some enjoyed the past weeks with little disruption; others trod deep and dark waters when life as they knew it came crashing down. We have all likely experienced varying emotions and life situations. This will be a time in our lives we will never forget and a time that will have lasting implications for months, and maybe years, to come. As we endure these unprecedented times, we should give our minds to consider how our Church Covenant, drawn from the truths of Scripture, should inform the way we live amidst challenges like COVID-19.
We commit to live together in Christian love and maintain the unity of the Spirit.
“Love your neighbor as yourself” is seen numerous times in the New Testament (Mt 22:39; Mk 12:31; Lk 10:27; Rom 13:9; Gal 5:13; Jam 2:8). If you grew up in the church, you probably heard it in Sunday school, and you maybe even rolled your eyes as your teacher reminded you that your sibling counted as a “neighbor.” Living together in Christian love means loving your neighbor and regularly putting others’ needs before your own (Phil 2).
This season, though filled with grief and hardship for many, can be a time for our unity in the Spirit to shine. Our world says, “every man for himself,” but within the church, we should say, “every man for each other”. God’s Word reminds us that we are a family unit, adopted into the family of God (Gal 1:5), and bonded together by the blood of Christ. Let us love one another and strive to maintain the unity that has been given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We commit to bear one another’s burdens.
As mentioned above, this global pandemic has brought about grief in many forms for people across the globe. While we cannot carry all the burdens of the world, we are called to carry one another’s burdens in our church body. Let’s use this time to check-in on one another, asking our brothers and sisters to be honest with us in sharing their burdens, and then taking those burdens to the Lord. His ears are always open and eager to hear from His people. He lacks no knowledge of each situation and does not grow weary in hearing from us. Allow prayer to serve as a reminder that while we carry one another’s burdens, we are not to carry them apart from the help of our Lord.
We commit to exercise an affectionate care and watchfulness over each other.
The principle behind this part of our covenant is not solely about the “doing,” but also about the “considering.” While we often consider care and watchfulness in a spiritual sense, it can be applied here in a very physical sense, as we consider caring for and watching out for one another’s physical wellbeing.
Affectionate care and watchfulness, then, can be practiced in both meeting the tangible needs of members (grocery shopping, picking up prescriptions, delivering meals, etc.) and in considering more cautionary measures to protect one another (wearing a mask, limiting exposure, staying home if you feel ill, etc.). To be considerate and mindful is to exercise affectionate care and watchfulness over each other. Let’s count serving one another in this way a joy and not an inconvenience.
We commit to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and courtesy in speech.
If you’ve turned on the news or scrolled through social media for more than five minutes, you’ve likely seen indifference and selfishness as people have spoken about matters relating to the Coronavirus and the re-opening of our city and state. We must think about this pandemic from multiple perspectives and allow those perspectives to affect our feelings and speech, even as we’re interacting on social media platforms. Some have lost jobs. Kids miss their friends from school and church. This pandemic has affected our members in a host of different ways. Let us be sympathetic and courteous in our speech as each of us navigate the effects of COVID-19 on our lives.
This does not mean that we bypass opportunities to speak wisdom into a member’s life if there is need for it. If someone is acting irresponsibly, purposefully or not, we can and should correct them with gentleness and humility. Courtesy and correction do not have to be in conflict with one another. At the same time, if you are the recipient of correction, take strides to respond in gentleness and humility and seek to understand the perspective of the other.
We commit to be slow to take offense and always ready for reconciliation.
Under the guidelines given by the governor and other city officials, there is room for personal choice regarding reengaging with the public. Let us be gracious with one another as we all seek to make wise and informed decisions for our families. If you have been negligent in your speech or your actions have communicated ungodliness during this season, seek reconciliation with those you wounded. If you have been offended by something someone has said or done during this season, pray for gentleness and seek reconciliation with that brother or sister.
Since our present interactions primarily take place via phone calls, text messages, and Zoom or FaceTime calls, we need to remind ourselves that our words are not always as clear as when we are in the same physical space together. When tone and facial expressions do not accompany our words, they can sometimes be understood differently than we intended. Let’s give one another the benefit of the doubt and be gracious as we seek to interact in the ways we are able at this point in time.
A Final Encouragement
Liberty Baptist Church, we have the great joy and privilege of being members of one body. Though we have missed meeting together and sharing in all of the spiritual blessings that come from our gathering on Sundays, we are not without hope. God is still on His throne. He is still saving sinners. He is still advancing His gospel here and around the world. This pandemic did not catch Him by surprise, nor has His sovereign rule been thwarted.
In this time of uncertainty as our country begins the process of reopening, let us be mindful of the unique challenges some of our members face, and seek to minister to them in any way possible. And as we’re ministering to one another, let us rejoice in the truth of Jude 24:
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.