How a global pandemic can reveal our foolishness …

Leave it to a global pandemic to help us see just how foolishly so many of us have been living.

Forced to stay home and examine our selves, our marriages, our families, our church life, and more, it’s been easy to see various ways foolishness has marked our daily living, such as:

The foolishness of making comfort and plenty our idols.
A pandemic teaches us the brevity of life, the need to live it fully today, and just how foolish it has been for most of us to strive making life all about keeping it comfortable for ourselves and our families, and to make sure we always have “plenty” (meaning an abundance that is more than what we need). Many of us are far more like the rich farmer in a story Jesus told:

“Jesus replied, ‘Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?’ Then he said, ‘Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.’ Then he told them a story: ‘A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. He said to himself, “What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.” Then he said, “I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. And I’ll sit back and say to myself, ‘My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!'” But God said to him, “You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?” Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God,’” Luke 12:14-21.

For many of us, it has taken the impact of a global pandemic for us to seriously assess how we’re living and the reality of our relationship with God.

The foolishness of not having a sense of urgency.
There’s an old story told about three apprentice devils who were taking their final exam in front of Satan:

“Before I let you loose in the world,” Satan said, “I need to know what deceitful message you are going to whisper in the ears of people so that they end up here in hell.”

“That’s easy,” said the first devil. “I’ll tell them there is no heaven.”

“That won’t work,” said Satan. “Whenever people look at the beauty of the earth and feel the wonders of creation, they know that heaven exists. FAIL!”

“I’ll tell them that there’s no hell,” said the second devil.

“That won’t work either,” said Satan. “The world is full of so much pain and suffering, injustice and cruelty, that people know hell exists as a place of punishment for the unrepentant and wicked. FAIL!”

The third devil thought for a moment and then said, “I’ll tell them that there’s no hurry.”

“EXCELLENT!” Satan declared. “People will be fooled into believing that there’s plenty of time to change. Hell will overflow with lost souls! PASS!”

Many of us have had an abundance of new time at home, and many of us have seen just how poor stewards we are regarding our time. We’ve had no sense of urgency about making new disciples or the work of God’s kingdom. We’re happy to stuff our “free time” with Netflix marathons and let a dying world die.

Then a global pandemic hits and reminds us of this:

“Look here, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.’ How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog — it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, ‘If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.’ Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil. Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it,” James 4:13-17.

The foolishness of disobedience
So many Americans have survived off a junk food diet and have scoffed at physical exercise. The result are millions of unfit people with health issues related to poor diet and lack of exercise — like morbid obesity and diabetes. Then comes a pandemic that is especially fatal for people who are overweight and have diabetes. Now smothered in fear, they’re also learning they’ve failed to build a prayer life that creates genuine intimacy with God, or to seek Him in His word so they have a biblical worldview. Steeped in disobedience, finding God in a time of pandemic and riots is requiring starting with personal repentance and a new commitment to obey and follow Jesus Christ, who said, “If you love me, obey my commandments” (John 14:15).

The foolishness of living an undisciplined life.
Why have we failed to pray? Failed to study God’s Word? Failed to fuel our bodies with good nutrition? Failed to get off the couch and exercise our bodies? Failed to love, or care, or serve, or do so many things that are right and good? Why have we failed to obey God? In most cases, simply because we’ve opted for selfishness and laziness over self-discipline. That when God has empowered us to live disciplined lives for our own benefit:

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline,” 2 Timothy 1:7.

To live a life as a disciple of Jesus Christ requires a daily exercise of the self-discipline God has equipped us with.

The foolishness of living an undiscipled life.
We knew before our current global pandemic that the church has failed miserably at discipling those who profess to follow Christ, but we’re seeing and feeling that reality deeply in the difficult days of COVID-19. As a part of His final instructions to the church, Jesus commissioned us to go into all the world and make new disciples, and then to teach them (disciple them) everything that He taught. The average Christian today is attending church less, is biblically illiterate, and the majority say they don’t know what the Great Commission is. That’s the “Christian” lives we settled for pre-pandemic; are we seeing the foolishness of living undiscipled lives?

The foolishness of elevating individuality.
Proverbs 18:2 states, “Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions.”

Instead of seeing as critically important our discipleship as followers of Jesus, many of us have followed our culture in elevating the individual opinion to idol status. We believe our own opinions are sacrosanct to the point of being superior to scripture. Then the world is rattled by riots and a pandemic, and we (can) learn our little opinions don’t amount for much.

Conclusion
Now that a horrendous pandemic is showing us just how foolish we have been, we can learn how to repent of our foolishness and move forward with a renewed commitment to truly follow in the footsteps of Jesus. To not do that would be … truly foolish.

Scotty