Covid-19 A time to reduce giving?

Covid-19 - A time to reduce giving?

Pierre and Jacqueline had retired a while ago. They had settled into what they expected to be many years of enjoying a slower pace combined with active service in ways fitting to their experience and abilities. There had been a trip of two and more local engagement than when they were employed. Life was good.

Then along came Covid-19.

They took care. Hands were washed and contacts with others, including some nearby family, were carefully managed. They remained physically close to one another and agreed that they went together through this in life or death. Their Christian faith left them unafraid to die, although not welcoming its untimely advent.

Their retirement income had been adequate to their needs, but a significant share was market-linked and suffered under the Covid-19 downturn. And so, after seeking advice they took a decision to reduce that income with a view to preserving wealth for the longer term.

That meant some belt tightening. But first a reckoning. They faced the possibility that some of their extended family could have reduced or no employment and might need support. A significant sum was pledged to various Christian agencies and their local church. Through their church they were also committed to share support for a local needy family.

What expenditure could be reduced? They reduced some unnecessary items from the household budget but still needed more savings. How about the external giving? Reductions there were an easy way to reduce outgoings

Some of the missionaries they supported wrote to suggest that the new time was tough for donors and they understood if people cut back. Other missionaries pleaded for increased giving because of the sudden and dramatic drop in their support.

However, Pierre and Jacqueline decided not to cut their giving. They knew that others would not have any choice in this, but they did. Meanwhile the needs of the causes they supported continued. The result of not cutting their giving was a threat to their own future welfare, but also a threat to the present welfare of others and to the increasingly urgent gospel task. They also knew where their rust-proof wealth was deposited, and they knew and trusted the One who promised to care for those who seek first his kingdom.

This was a time to give and to give again.

Covid-19 - Dying to live

Dying to live

As Covid-19 continues its grim dance of death around the globe, most of us follow government urgings to isolate ourselves and to avoid danger areas where possible. And so, there are stories of people away dashing to cross borders before they close, and they are trapped on the wrong side while others retreat behind latherings of handwash and bolted doors.

This is not universal.

Central Nigeria is an area where Covid-19 is not yet virulent but is also an area with very limited health facilities. For example, ventilators are few and are hand operated. Expatriate workers in a Christian mission were given a choice to stay or to evacuate during a recent one-week window of available flights. There was no pressure on anyone and no criticism of anyone’s decision. A group of missionaries in the vulnerable post-70 age bracket chose to stay and continue serving, well-aware that this may be a choice resulting in their death.

This is not new. See the articles below for a few stories from the past of Christian choosing to stay or to walk into seasons of plague or pestilence.

Why do people do things like these missionaries in central Nigeria?

·       Loved by God in Christ and wanting to reflect and repay that by serving others.

·       Loving neighbour and wanting to serve as they are able.

·       A sense of eternity in which it is better to be with the Lord and in which death is not the worst that can happen to a person.

And of course, a decision by a particular missionary to evacuate is not necessarily selfishness or cowardice. There are times that it is better for some to withdraw from a danger zone (eg, Matt 10:23; 24:16; Acts 8:1&4). And equally so, there are times when a decision to stay may arise from false motives or may cause unnecessary burdens on others including nationals.

All that being said, the decision of these older missionaries to stay in central Nigeria is worth recording. These are people who know that they started to die when they were born, and that Christ has conquered death. They value life, are not careless with it and doubtless take responsible measures such as handwashing and social distance. The decision to stay is taken with knowledge and as an expression of faith that, whether they live or die, their calling is to deny themselves and follow Christ. They choose to wear his crown of thorns that they may have his crown of life.

To read

There’s plenty of good material starting to appear abut Christian responses to CV19. Here is a selection of material that brings a historical perspective.

·       https://au.thegospelcoalition.org/article/when-the-plague-came-to-eyam-four-lessons-for-the-church-an-a-time-of-covid-19/

·      https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/13/christianity-epidemics-2000-years-should-i-still-go-to-church-coronavirus/?fbclid=IwAR0QTCLf5lMQBlh-x77ClkKeR_qmG2wsFTvkZET8iPeqeaIq-J6YwGsq_go

·       https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/spurgeon-ministry-cholera-outbreak/

Covid-19 and the myth of ‘my world’.

Covid-19 and the myth of ‘my world’.

A world of our own?

A trend of our times is the self-constructed world. We want to decide what is real, true and right for ourselves. Some want to decide their own gender, independent of biology. We resist others telling us what to do, map out our future vision and make plans for its execution. In short, we like to build a world for ourselves and then build a wall around it to keep others at bay.

And then things come along to rattle our DIY world. Climate and weather events send droughts, fires, storms and floods in unusual patterns and disrupt lives and livelihoods in varying ways. The rapid global spread of Covid-19 impacts through deaths, economic turmoil and growing fear. Even if these miss us personally, there is always the potential of an apparently random event in which being in the wrong place at the wrong time sends life topsy turvey.

Such events shatter the myth that we are in control and that life is certain.

What do we do when life goes topsy turvey

Common responses are to rage against events and lash out at anyone who we can find to blame. (Who would want to be a political or organisational leader at such a time?) Or we surrender to despair and passivity, concluding that the world is in the hands of the bad or the mad – if it is in anyone’s hands at all. Or perhaps we opt for a Stoic response of not trying to make sense of it all, shrug our shoulders and soldier on anyway.

Lessons from and for the times

1. We are not in charge of our destiny and the sooner we accept this the better.

2. Learn to live with contingency.

It is wise to know and engage with what is in our power and leave what is not in our power alone.

And so, we ask, what can I do to prevent contact and contract with the virus or any other threat? What prudent precautions can I take in anticipation of contact or contract such as laying in medications, basic foods etc and having a family plan in place.

It is also wise to have proportionality in perspective. All things are possible, but what is the probability of contact or contract with the virus and what are the likely outcomes of either? If we engage with the worst possible outcome, then we are equipped to deal with anything else.

The hardest lesson – humility before God

Our liking for a self-constructed world is shattered when events beyond our control break in. Our ego is undermined. We do not welcome the news that we are not god.

For unbelievers, the challenge and opportunity is to align themselves to God through faith in Jesus. That connects people to the heart of the universe and is our best path to flourishing amidst uncertainty. Knowing that he is God and bowing before him is the hardest of all human lessons. It is also the wisest.

For believers, the news that God is God and is in control is most welcome. The universe and our personal world are not in the hands of the mad nor the bad and is not a driverless train. What we see is not the sum total of reality.  Rather, our all-knowing, all-wise, all-powerful and always present God is watching and working for the good of his people. The way he worked redemptively through the dreadful death of Jesus is proof positive of his unseen and good hand behind the appearance of chaos.

For believers, our alignment to God in Christ enables calmness. We know that chaos and contingency have real and painful impacts which we too may suffer. However, we also know his unseen hand that works all things for the good of his people and works towards his plan of reconciling all things in Christ. That enables us to live with serenity, take active responsibility where we can and to give of ourselves to the needs of others with generosity.

Historically, Christian believers have responded to the world’s chaos by stepping forward and leaning in. Followers of Jesus have stepped into situations of threat such as war, natural disasters, pestilence and plague, embracing risks in order to serve. Love of God and of neighbour take us there.s

A timely word

Let James have a timely word to us all:

Come now you who say “Today or tomorrow let’s go into the city, and spend a year there, trade and make a profit. Whereas you don’t know what your life will be like tomorrow. For what is your life? For you are a vapor, that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away. For you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will both live, and do this and that”. (James 4:13-15)

Covid-19 - all power to medical science?

Covid-19 - all power to medical science?

As Covid-19 continues its global advance questions arise as to responses of prevention, containment and management.

The common response seems to be based largely around medical science. Chief medical officers and their ilk advise governments on what can be done and how to do it. This is a proper role of medical science and it is advice that should be sought and respected. All strength be to these medical advisors, as also to the medical scientists working on vaccines and cures. We need this science and should value it. 

And of course, there is a civic obligation to cooperate with public health measures implemented by governments based on the advice that they receive. This post is not a call to civil disobedience on Covid-19 control measures!

However, it is good to ask a wider question: is it wise to cede all power to medical science in the determination of public policy and should public policy be based on it alone?

Responses to and impacts of Covid-19 raise issues beyond medical science. Consider the economic costs and impacts of efforts to contain the virus. And consider the social costs of rising authoritarianism, along with rising fear and suspicion between people and societies. How can these non-economic costs be measured? How do these costs stack up against: (a) the probability of success in containment strategies and, (b) the medical severity of Covid-19 on its victims?

Asking these questions does not downplay the effects of Covid-19 on vulnerable people. These vulnerable ones include the frail aged and young , individuals with compromised health and whole societies that are medically marginal such as the people of Timor Leste. These effects and their costs there are severe and are clearly relevant to response strategies.

However, the question remains of the rightful limits of the scientific contribution to Covid-19. What part do ethical, political and economic values have, alongside medical science, in informing mature responses?

These questions nest within a wider discussion of the proper limits of science. Science is essential and helpful for understanding how the physical world works and how we can intervene in it to advantage, but it has limitations outside of those roles, including in developing and applying ethical values. However, that is a discussion for another day.

Is it really ‘all power to medical science’ when it comes to Covid-19?