Can you grab a cup of coffee/tea and join me around the kitchen table for a family talk?
As our provincial health authorities have just changed the policy on how we can gather we are once again forced to adjust. Most of you know BC Health is now mandating that we either require everyone 12+ to be vaccinated if we want to fill our building or we can only fill our building to 50% capacity. This means that our leadership may soon be forced to make a decision that will not make everyone happy. So, what do we do? How do we decide?
There are folks on each side of the issue and as I’ve listened, I think I really do understand both sides. While back home I observed this up close and personal. I had an uncle who died after he contracted C-19. He was near death’s door and Covid took his last breath. Some of my family members are older, some are vulnerable because of their health and they genuinely fear what happened to my uncle will happen to them. So, they are quite fearful. And I really get that…I understand their fear.
On the other hand, many of my relatives don’t fear this at all. I sat around with about 10 of my cousins one night to hear that out of the 10 of them…9 of them had caught the virus. And of those 9, only 1 of them really was very sick. In fact, the other 8 said it was no big deal.
They caught it before the vaccine and now they are vaccinated. But they don’t fear it at all and they don’t want someone telling them they can’t have their freedoms. They especially don’t want their church telling them certain people can’t come to church. “Churches should be open for everyone…even at the risk of death” ...at least that would be their argument. And I understand that position. I really do.
So, as we consider what to do, I want to ask you…and I’m doing this myself…to think about 2 things:
1. Maintain unity
2. What does Jesus model?
Unity.
Here’s the thing about unity. We often think that unity means a feel-good emotion. But the truth is, it often never feels good. Quite often unity is a hard pill to swallow and I don’t tend to like it (even if Mary Poppins adds a spoonful of sugar). But that’s not the Biblical call to unity. I seek unity not for the emotional feeling of it. I seek unity for the sake of the church, for the witness of the church, for the sake of the gospel. In fact, Paul speaks of us already having unity; we just need to hang on to it (see Eph. 4). I may not actually feel really good about this person I disagree with but for the sake of unity…I will bear with them…give them grace…and I hope they will offer me the same.
So, that’s one response I’d like to ask us all to consider: Maintain unity. The other is what I’ve been thinking about the most.
What does Jesus model?
I began to ask myself: how should I respond? If I follow Jesus and say I want to model my life after Him, then what can He teach me about this? And it became clear to me that it was to serve, to consider the needs of others as more important than myself.
Jesus himself said he didn’t come to BE served but TO serve. He went on to say that his ultimate example of servanthood would be that he would give his life as a ransom for many (Matt. 20:28). Jesus is modeling selfLESSness and sacrifice.
So, I’m asking: What does Jesus…what does love require of me in this season? How can I give up my own desires and even my own rights in order to serve others. For some Biblical reflections on this topic, take a look at some of these passages: Rom 12:10; Rom 12:14-17; 1Th 5:13-15; Col 3:12-15; Eph 4:1-3; Eph 4:31-32.
So, as we consider how to move forward as a community during this season, can I ask you to consider reframing the issue? To allow these 2 ideas or questions to be the first you ask: 1. How can I maintain unity and 2. What does love require of me?
Are you judging your unvaccinated friends? What does love require of you regarding them?
Are you judging those who are too nervous about gathering because of their fear of being sick? What does love require of you regarding them?
Our nature is to ask: What do I want? What serves me best? What’s most convenient for me? What’s fair for me? But that’s not what we see in Jesus. And I praise God it’s not, because we would not have our salvation in Him if He had done it any differently.
So, please pray for me, pray for your leadership team as we navigate these issues. And can I invite us all to be looking to sacrifice, to serve and to bless. I think at the end of the day, this will make us even stronger and closer to one another.
