Author’s Note: For those of you reading this post today, thank you for reading. Please know that my intent with this post is not meant to criticize or condemn anyone. My intent of this post is for you the reader to really see what Jesus did and how He interacted with the sick and dying. If you are follower of Christ, I hope you will consider at least thinking about what is written and move toward the growth God is calling you to.
It’s time for someone to ask and answer the question found in the title of this post.
If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, please consider this: if social distancing really is something that is Biblical and loving, as many are claiming today, why did Jesus Christ live out a completely different example? I have seen and been in conversations with Christians that claim it is unloving or driving people away from the Lord with one’s witness to not wear a mask in public in order for people to feel safe, and that we should follow 1 Corinthians 10:29-33 in this situation. Hence, we should wear a mask because they equate that to a person possibly being offended and even falling away from God like the situation in Corinth of someone eating meat sacrificed to an idol. I do want to point out that Paul is very clear in his teaching that we should think of others and be mindful of their thought process in order to win people to Christ. It seems many are confused these days and forget that there are non-Christians or weak Christians on both sides of this whole real-life scenario in regard to social distancing and wearing masks in public.
I will say that worshiping an idol is clearly a sin and breaks one of God’s Ten Commandments. So, at least in my mind it makes sense to not eat the meat sacrificed to an idol because there is a lot of “gray area” in this situation. Regarding masks, it is not clearly a sin to wear one or not wear one. So, I see these as very, very differently in nature.
So, let’s take a look again at the One we, as followers of Christ, say that we follow.
Think about it. Jesus approached the sick and dying. He even raised a man from the dead after he was already in his tomb for four days. (See John 11:1-44 for the whole story.) The people there knew this was an issue and even Martha, the sister of the dead man, said in John 11:39, “Lord, by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
Here is a wonderful video clip to consider of Jesus dealing with a leper who was considered very contagious. I encourage you to not just watch the person playing Jesus in this clip but watch those around Him and their reaction as well.
I encourage you to go watch that clip again to see how many similarities are going on there and with things that are going on in our world today with this whole virus situation. I find it quite profound. Hopefully you will as well. I also encourage you to see what Jesus does with the leper. Not only is He not “social distancing” but He goes and touches the leper, which in that day and age was a serious no-no.
I encourage you to even do some study on our brothers and sisters in Christ that were in the early Church. Though they may have been concerned for their lives, they went and helped the sick and the dying, quite literally with no regard for their own wellbeing. We need to love others. Touch is something people need and looking people in the eye is very important too.
Friends, we were created for interaction and relationship. If you don’t think this is what we as Christians are called to do, go get to know Jesus again. Take time to read the book of John and the book of Luke. Read how Jesus responds to the sick and the lame, then go and do likewise. And if you think Jesus was all worried about being politically correct and not hurting people’s feelings, I really encourage you to read John 5:1-15. The question He asks the man isn’t worried about the man’s feelings or how he would take Jesus’ words. It is a very serious pointed question to a man who sat there for 38 years. Think about that for a moment: 38 years! In all that time, surely this man could have planned out how to get to the pool right on time and at the right moment, right? I personally think Jesus knew this and sincerely asked the man, “Do you want to get well?” It’s almost as if Jesus was implying, “You’ve been here 38 years. Are you telling me in all that time you couldn’t have planned out how to get to the pool at the right time and at the right moment to be healed? Come on man. Now, I forgive you, pick up your mat and go live your life that I have given to you. Stop being a victim.”
Friends, I am not judging anyone at all. I am only attempting to help people become free in Christ. The Kingdom of God is not a place; it is a mindset, it is a spiritual awakening, it really is a lifestyle.
As it says in 1 Corinthians 13, let’s grow up and become mature and put childish ways behind us. Let’s show the world what the Kingdom of God really looks like. 1 Corinthians 13:11 says, “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.”
To my Christian friends and followers of Jesus Christ, now is the time for us to lead and show the world what the Kingdom of God really looks like. Please put your fear aside for the sake of winning people to Christ and His Kingdom.
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