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"What's Behind The Masks?"

Note: As COVID19 spreads, Christians must unify and build a relational bridge when the virus wants to create a social moat.

Masks. All kinds of masks. Everyone is looking for masks, even though medical professionals tell us not to. Maybe it helps us feel less helpless.

But some masks have another purpose. We normally think of them as things to cover who we really are — to hide or disguise what we really value. I think this pandemic will take off some masks— and help reveal our true selves. And, I think a whole lot of masks are about to come down.

This is not a crisis anyone wants, but I am hoping it will display who Christians really are. But let’s face it: as things accelerate, and they WILL accelerate, and masks truly fall, and they WILL fall, we will then show what kind of Christians we really and truly are. I’m ready to know.

Now, some might not agree with what I'm about to post, as is your prerogative, but, I believe serving and loving others as Christ Himself has served us through His death and resurrection is central to our faith-- our core belief— even when it involves personal risk and cost. That’s what I hope this crisis will reveal.

One way we do that is to care for one another — ALL of us, yes, even those who are not (yet) members of the household of faith. Right now, I am addressing my fellow Christians because maybe we need extra reminding. Yes, social distancing is the news of the day, as it should be; however, if we end up distanced from one another, we will be worse off, not better.

The point is simple. Social distancing IS necessary. Relational distancing is NOT. We are needing to seize the opportunity to check on our neighbors. We need to build a relational bridge when this virus wants to create a social moat. During this COVID19 epidemic, we will be separated. We still have to stick together.

This is the time to show who we really are, as Christians in this day.This is our moment.

Followers of Christ are called to sacrificially care for the vulnerable because, as scripture reminds us, Christ first loved us and died for us that we might be forgiven and reconciled to God. We love others because we understand just how much God has done for us and how He then calls us to live in light of that love. That is what Christians were known for centuries ago — caring for others. That’s not always been the case, but it has often been. Yet, today, my fellow brothers and sisters, we have been known for being more about ourselves than our neighbors.
I’m hoping and praying that changes… and fast. These are times of need...not want.

And Scripture specifically says: "But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" (1 John 3:17)

Caring for others is laced throughout Scripture and central to the very fabric of the Christian faith. We find commandments like: “ Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:2)
For Christians, how well we endure in sacrificially serving the vulnerable and the needy is one of the greatest indicators of how deeply we have understood what Christ has done for us.

The Bible doesn't leave us much wiggle room about who to serve. Case and point: The Good Samaritan. Jesus uses a Samaritan to unpack how we are to love even those we might otherwise see as our cultural enemies. In essence, how well we are able to love others is a direct indication of how well we know Christ and what He has done for us. At its most basic level, it means caring for others in their times of need. At a time of partisanship and politicization, the gospel gives us only one condition: serve the hurting and the needy. And, we are about to have a great opportunity to do just that.

It's worth asking why Christians had and is now again called to live in such a sacrificial way. The answer in part is the description of Christians as “citizens of heaven”:
"For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:" (Philippians 3:20)
That is, our hope is not in this life, but in the one to come.

While everyone is good at talking in times of peace, moments of crisis define who we truly are, and what we truly believe. They reveal.

Example: Church historian Eusebius describes a fourth century epidemic that swept through the Roman Empire. Not fleeing the cities or shutting off their homes from others, Eusebius records that “all day long Christians tended to the dying and to the burial, countless numbers with no one to care for them. Others gather together from all parts of the city a multitude of those withered from famine and distributed bread to them all.” As a result, Eusebius concludes, “the Christians’ deeds were on everyone's lips, and they glorified the God of the Christians.”

When faced with what was likely a far more severe pandemic than our own, 4th century Christians modeled a faith that is truly compelling. That pandemic revealed who Christians really were — this one will probably do so as well.

The question is: Who are we, followers of Jesus, in 2020? Are we driven by a desire for political power and gain, or will we be those who show and share the love of Jesus in the midst of this now-growing crisis?

We'll know soon enough. Masks will run out, and masks will come down. Maybe it’s time to take them off anyway and show who the Christians really are.

I pray we will look more like our Lord Jesus, and less like our worst impulses.

It's time to take off the masks.