All Kinds of Crazy

King Coronavirus continues his relentless attack on mankind and it appears obvious the war is not going well, at least here in America.  One big reason is that our citizens have extremely different views about how we should face this threat.

One extreme would be the ‘covid parties’ we’ve heard rumor of, with people gathering to intentionally infect one another.  The opposite extreme would be those who have not only self-quarantined for the last four months, but also believe that if the whole country would have been made to do the same we would be done with this by now.  In between these two points there are countless views, some leaning decidedly toward caution, others away from it, motivated by an even wider range of values.

What is striking is that I find Jesus-loving, Bible-reading, Spirit-filled Christians all almost every point on the spectrum (with the exception of ‘covid party’ people), and I’m friends with all of them!  It is a very strange experience to hear one friend express their take with great conviction and then soon after hear another friend do the same with a completely opposite view.  I realize everyone is just trying to do the best they can, but it is extraordinary nonetheless.

For my part, I have been somewhat careful about sharing my own view and instead work primarily to help people give grace toward others with differing views. I realize the world is going increasingly crazy, and I don’t think there’s anyway to avoid going with it.  I just hope to be the right kind of crazy.

Covid Party crazy is easy to renounce, and I certainly haven’t heard of anyone who has actually been that irresponsible.  But I am also guarding against the crazy idea that avoiding covid is the only thing worth living for, a perspective I think one could hold a long while before realizing it. However, cutting the ties that bind within the body of Christ is the crazy I am most zealous to avoid.  Instead, I will pursue the self-denying, Christ-exalting crazy that the apostle Paul was.

If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit. Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. (2 Corinthians 5:13–14 NLT)

We could do with a lot more of this kind of crazy.

Pastor Toby