Was it Our Finest Hour?

The COVID-19 pandemic is, without a doubt, one of those great crisis moments that shape and define American history.  It falls in the same category as the Civil War, the Great Depression, the totalitarian threats in Europe leading to World War 2, the September 11 Attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center and Hurricane Katrina.  

It happened quickly, spread rapidly and took a while for people to comprehend what was happening, make adjustments and adapt to it not only for our own good, but for the good of others.  In a situation like this, it has become very clear that working together and doing things that contribute to the safety and wellness of others, like, say, wearing a mask in public, will also contribute to our own safety and wellness.  We still don't know everything, but we know enough to have figured out what it will take to eliminate the threat of COVID-19 and that means that integrity demands that we step up and do our part.  

This should be one of our finest hours. I know that the teachings of the Bible aren't universally accepted by all Americans, and are also not interpreted the same way, but there is some merit in the values and principles that it promotes. The Apostle Paul, writing to the church at Philippi, made this statement: 

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.  Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.

There are many people who are, in humility, putting the needs of others ahead of themselves when it comes to this pandemic.  I think of those in the medical field who put themselves right into the direct path of people who have COVID-19 in order to take care of them.  Many of them are vaccinated now, but that certainly wasn't the case when all of this started.  Many first responders, paramedics, police officers, firemen, also exposed themselves to the virus while continuing to do their jobs.  And there were thousands of people who work in essential businesses, like grocery stores and pharmacies, gas stations and other places where the needs of daily life must be met, who showed up for work to make sure people had what they needed to make it through each day. 

Fear of the unknown is genuine fear.  As this pandemic unfolded, it provided many ways for those who implicitly believe in the practice of the Christian faith in accordance with the scripture to demonstrate their convictions and do something that was encouraging, helping people to overcome their fear of the unknown and set a personal example for others to follow which might lead to behavior that would slow the spread of the virus and contribute to recovery.  There's scientific proof that wearing masks, keeping distance, regularly washing your hands and limiting your time spent in public is highly effective in preventing the spread of the coronavirus.  

Unfortunately, the political atmosphere of our day managed to turn ways to prevent the spread of coronavirus into assertions of "guaranteed constitutional freedoms."  Minimizing the death rate, and beyond that, cheapening the lives of those most at risk by dismissing them because of their age was an appalling demonstration of selfishness that was most certainly not the kind of attitude the founding fathers imagined would be protected by freedom of speech. 

I'm guessing that being pro-life on behalf of the unborn doesn't translate over to being pro-life in protecting older people from COVID-19, at least, not enough to make the effort to wear a mask and follow a set of precautions aimed at preventing its spread.  

There's not a lot of consistency between claiming to believe the Bible and labelling it the inerrant, infallible word of God, the only rule for faith and practice, and then ignoring a good portion of what it teaches about loving others more than yourself, and Jesus above all when it comes to your complaining and fretting about what the government is doing to protect people from coronavirus.  Not because it's a deadly virus, mind you, and the risk of getting it is like playing Russian Roulette, but because you're using it to dispute the political affiliation of the officials that are issuing the order. 

We're still seeing churches elevating their claims to "religious freedom" over the health and safety of their own membership.  They contrast with churches that have discovered how to creatively move worship to small group gatherings, zoom or google meet, and put some time and effort in simply transitioning their ministry to a different method that works in a pandemic.  I saw a comment from a pastor on social media this past week who said that he has noticed far more of his parishioners remember his Sunday sermon now because he puts it on a podcast each week and they can listen on their Ipod during the week.  

For a church that exists "when two or three are gathered together in my name," a pandemic shouldn't be a challenge, it should be an opportunity.  This could have been the finest hour for American Christians and their churches, and for some, it may very well be exactly that.  If you're still fussing and fretting about your religious freedom, as many still are, then you probably haven't thought about anything that would make it so.  

The way the country has handle this pandemic made a major and drastic change in direction on January 20 2021.  Whether or not this will be seen as our finest hour probably depends and awful lot on what this administration is able to accomplish over the course of the next year.  But even prior to that, there were Americans who decided they were going to ignore the naysayers and do what Americans always do in a crisis, rise to the occasion.  It has been their finest hour.  How about you?