Christ Or Covid, Which Do You Talk About More?

How many times has the Coronavirus come up in your conversations in the last week? I can think of at least six times personally that it’s popped up. It’s popped up in conversations with Christian friends and non-Christian friends. I’ve even talked about it with strangers I’ve met along the way. Now, why doesn’t this happen with the Gospel and with Jesus? How many times has the gospel come up in conversation? Has it at all this last week? Why is there such a disparity? Which do we care about more? Christ or Covid?

I’m broken with conviction right now as I recognize the serious disparity between the two for me. In this blog post, I want to break down why we talk so much about Covid-19, and why all those reasons should apply to talking about the gospel. And hopefully, this will cause all of us to be more diligent in talking about Christ.

COVID Is Everywhere

It’s easy to talk about the pandemic because we see its effects everywhere. We all have masks and hand sanitizer. COVID has changed our jobs in one way or another. It’s changed our daily routines, our habits, the people we see, and the things we do. It’s hard to go a day without thinking about it multiple times. Because it’s everywhere, it’s on the top of our minds.

Why isn’t Christ?

Which has changed your life more, COVID or Jesus? Let’s be honest here. Whichever has changed us more, that’s what we will think about more. So, which do you think about more?

Now, I’ll be nice here. That last paragraph probably didn’t make you feel all that good. If you are like me, I think about the pandemic more than I do Jesus and the Gospel. To give ourselves some credit, this pandemic is much more new and recent to most of us than what Christ did in our lives. The transformation of the gospel is older news and therefore not at the forefront of our thoughts.

But is it?

The transformation of the Gospel isn’t just in the past. If we are actively following Christ, then He will keep changing us and helping us grow. In which case, this ongoing change will be much more recent than the beginning of the pandemic.

And, perhaps to make this true, we need to give God more time to speak into our lives. (I’m speaking to myself here.)

So, why don’t we talk about him more with unbelievers?

Relevance

One unique thing about this pandemic is that it affects us all. It’s something we can all relate on. It’s a very easy way to start up a conversation with a stranger. Is this the same with the Gospel?

Absolutely yes.

We have all been hurt. Some of us more deeply than others. I bet you’ve probably been hurt sometime this week, if not even today. We’ve also all sinned recently and felt angry or depressed or afraid.

My point is, we are all impacted by the fall ten-thousand times more than the pandemic. We are all bearing the weight of sin’s curse. And no one would deny that there’s a lot of messed-up stuff in this world.

I know it would be odd, but if you walked up to someone and said, “Man, don’t you wish people weren’t so messed up?” I bet they’d probably nod and agree.

We can relate on the pain of sin and we are all dealing with sin’s effects much more so than the pandemic.

Jesus or COVID?

Surely all this talking and arguing about this pandemic will change things right? Wrong? One-hundred-billion-percent wrong.

We talk day and night about this pandemic. We slide it in as jokes to unrelated conversations. Inevitably, we catch ourselves dwelling on it and dreaming about its end. Worst of all, we get mad at others who treat it or think differently about it than we do.

After all of this energy we spend on the topic, 100% of it is wasted. We can’t change anything! Why waste so much time on something when we can’t change anything about it?

This especially frustrates me when we could be talking about Jesus, especially when God makes it very clear that if we are walking in the Holy Spirit, He will make a difference through us. This bothers me so much because I do the same thing.

Why? Why do we let fear, discomfort, or whatever else keep us from sharing this life-changing news with others?

Eternity

If we got a chance to see exactly what heaven will be like for just a minute, our perspective would radically change. We’d see how marvelous it is, how peaceful it is, how close we can be with God, and just how good God is.

We’d quickly realize that this life is a passing storm. It will pass, and everything we do in this life will amount to nothing. The only things we can do in this life that will carry over with us into eternity are how we treat others, how we love God, and who we share the gospel with.

Everything else will vanish like diseases, pain, danger, fear, wealth, houses, cars, fame, and so much more.

If we experienced Hell for even a second, we wouldn’t stop pleading with the lost to recognize their sin and turn to God.

I believe the primary reason why we don’t get zapped right into heaven the moment we trust in Christ is that God wants us to reach out to the lost. Think about it. Everything else that Christ calls us to do in this life we can do far better in our perfected heavenly bodies. That is, except for evangelism.

If we all blipped into eternity right after trusting in Christ, the gospel wouldn’t be preached to the lost. So, let’s step out and fulfill the critical task that Christ has called us to.

Christ Or Covid?

This is why it’s so important that we step out and share the gospel message. We can’t afford to waste time talking about something we can’t change when we have this great commission?

It’s almost as if Satan wants to distract us with Covid or whatever. In fact, I bet this is his exact strategy. He knows that the more we are talking about something unimportant the more people will die and be forever separated from our good and just God.

I write this to challenge both you and me. We all need to grow in this. We can’t afford to miss any more opportunities.

Above all else, this is how we live wilder.

 

 

If you don’t yet understand the power of sharing your faith, then I suggest you check out my short story called The Man Who Fought A War He Never Saw.

If you enjoyed this blog but you don’t know how to share the gospel, I’d encourage you to check out the One Minute Witness.