this "Christian" author is simply wrong! (and presumptuous) #go2people
I saw an article today on Charisma magazine’s website entitled "God's Assignment for You During the COVID-19 Crisis" from a well-known charismatic Christian website wherein the author boldly states that...“God’s assignment is for you to be in your home, using your social distancing, and washing your hands.”
I’ll say this up front – this author was/is 100% WRONG! No, this was/is NOT “God’s assignment” for any of His people!
That's funny (especially coming from Charismatic Christian source that talks all the time about healing and the miraculous!) because God spoke to our community that we were to BE GOING OUT OF OUR HOMES and to be ministering to people who were/are gripped with fear, to pray for their protection and to share God's truth with them. And He has confirmed this mandate for us over and over again since this pandemic began.
So that is exactly what we have done for 2 weeks now! And as long as we are allowed to go out of our homes, which has been affected by a curfew that begins at 5pm, we will continue to obey God until He leads us to be doing something different.
The real question is WHAT WOULD JESUS BE DOING right now? What would He be doing in the midst of this global COVID-19 pandemic? And yes, of course, we too are using technology and connecting with people virtually online, but our specific mandate was to go to those who we don't know, to those who are still working throughout this crisis.
And as for Jesus, the last time I checked, whenever He encountered a virus (i.e. a person with a fever), the fever LOST. The person was healed.
Are we honoring the guidelines the government has set? Yes, we are. We are only going to open establishments, and we are interacting with people using social distancing.
But what we are NOT doing...is we are NOT staying home!
When we have to stay at home, i.e. if and when a 24-hour curfew is mandated,...then, of course, we will honor the directives of the local government.
But in the meantime, we will obey what Jesus has told us to be doing. We will do what we KNOW Jesus would be doing at this time. And when this COVID-19 thing is all over, we will have no regrets because we won't have missed the already countless opportunities that God has given us to GO TO PEOPLE who have needed prayer, who have needed comfort, who have needed hope and who haven't happened to be inside our homes. We have been bringing the church to the people. All of this has been God's assignment! We have literally ministered to several hundred people this way.
So NO this author does NOT know what God's assignment is/has been for us! And sadly, far too many Christians are listening to such unbelieving voices. This author is being fully presumptuous. And I believe her counsel is from a place unbelief and fear if she'd only be honest.
Maybe this charismatic Christian author needs to RE-READ the Gospels and ask herself, WHAT WOULD JESUS BE DOING IN A PANDEMIC? I think her answer as to what "God's assignment" is would be quite different. I don't think...I KNOW.
In other words, there is NO WAY Jesus would be staying at home in our particular circumstances at this time. Not the Jesus I know. Not the Jesus I read about in the Gospels. And the tears of gratitude, the hearty "amens", the words of thanks and requests to "please come back soon" have only confirmed that God continues to endorse our "assignment".
P.S. I don't doubt that God can and has instructed some Christians to stay at home. I can think of a number of reasons why that could be the case. Maybe they were/are at risk due to their health. Maybe they were/are vulnerable for other reasons (i.e. open doors in their lives). Maybe they were/are called exclusively to intercession in this hour. BUT when one considers the example of the life of Jesus, these would be the RARE exceptions and clearly not the rule. In short, the vast majority of Christians were NOT being led by the Lord if they said the Lord was leading them to stay at home and not to minister to people in person!
So that is exactly what we have done for 2 weeks now! And as long as we are allowed to go out of our homes, which has been affected by a curfew that begins at 5pm, we will continue to obey God until He leads us to be doing something different.
The real question is WHAT WOULD JESUS BE DOING right now? What would He be doing in the midst of this global COVID-19 pandemic? And yes, of course, we too are using technology and connecting with people virtually online, but our specific mandate was to go to those who we don't know, to those who are still working throughout this crisis.
And as for Jesus, the last time I checked, whenever He encountered a virus (i.e. a person with a fever), the fever LOST. The person was healed.
Are we honoring the guidelines the government has set? Yes, we are. We are only going to open establishments, and we are interacting with people using social distancing.
But what we are NOT doing...is we are NOT staying home!
When we have to stay at home, i.e. if and when a 24-hour curfew is mandated,...then, of course, we will honor the directives of the local government.
But in the meantime, we will obey what Jesus has told us to be doing. We will do what we KNOW Jesus would be doing at this time. And when this COVID-19 thing is all over, we will have no regrets because we won't have missed the already countless opportunities that God has given us to GO TO PEOPLE who have needed prayer, who have needed comfort, who have needed hope and who haven't happened to be inside our homes. We have been bringing the church to the people. All of this has been God's assignment! We have literally ministered to several hundred people this way.
So NO this author does NOT know what God's assignment is/has been for us! And sadly, far too many Christians are listening to such unbelieving voices. This author is being fully presumptuous. And I believe her counsel is from a place unbelief and fear if she'd only be honest.
Maybe this charismatic Christian author needs to RE-READ the Gospels and ask herself, WHAT WOULD JESUS BE DOING IN A PANDEMIC? I think her answer as to what "God's assignment" is would be quite different. I don't think...I KNOW.
In other words, there is NO WAY Jesus would be staying at home in our particular circumstances at this time. Not the Jesus I know. Not the Jesus I read about in the Gospels. And the tears of gratitude, the hearty "amens", the words of thanks and requests to "please come back soon" have only confirmed that God continues to endorse our "assignment".
P.S. I don't doubt that God can and has instructed some Christians to stay at home. I can think of a number of reasons why that could be the case. Maybe they were/are at risk due to their health. Maybe they were/are vulnerable for other reasons (i.e. open doors in their lives). Maybe they were/are called exclusively to intercession in this hour. BUT when one considers the example of the life of Jesus, these would be the RARE exceptions and clearly not the rule. In short, the vast majority of Christians were NOT being led by the Lord if they said the Lord was leading them to stay at home and not to minister to people in person!
P.S.S. When I first wrote this blog post, I was unaware that 'social distancing' itself was/is a program. And I would not comply with it in the future. Only when we get within 5 feet of other people can we help them. The 6 foot distance was designed to keep people in fear and to keep them controlled. I would honor the person/people in fear who might be uncomfortable with my closeness, but knowing what I know now about "Kingdom distance" (God's design for us to physically be able to help people in fear), I would do all that I could to get within 5 feet of the person I am ministering to).
...for such a time as this!
#covid-19 #covid19 #coronavirus #christians #covid19church #ministry #mandate #assignment #pandemic #gospels #kingdom
...for such a time as this!
#covid-19 #covid19 #coronavirus #christians #covid19church #ministry #mandate #assignment #pandemic #gospels #kingdom
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