A Tumultuous Sea

A Ship Drifts Without an Anchor or an Engine

Dear Friends, this is the 12th e-mail I’ve sent since the Corona-virus precipitated a lock-down. For the past two weeks we have been in phase three of lifting restrictions. Some restrictions remain, and inevitably some will return as the government weighs the risks of openings.

Nevertheless, the immediate crisis of COVID’s onset has passed. Now we are learning to live in its wake—both in terms of its potential return and of the social, economic and political consequences it ignited, or at least exacerbated.

Here are some of my thoughts this week.

To react or to respond…. That is the question.

COVID is an external pressure on our lives. An external pressure produces changes that we don’t control and that disrupt our lives. Stresses of uncertainty usually unmoor us from that which give us stability. This particular disruption seems to cause either one of two results.

One, we want to “get back to our pre-pandemic life.” We work hard for that result, despite the fact that stresses from COVID keep producing new crises which have been sitting just below the surface. But I’m not sure that simply “getting back to what was” is a healthy reaction.

Two, we gravitate to and want to attach ourselves to whatever strong force comes before us. Being attached to something that has purpose and direction can provide that sense of stability that the unmooring undid.  While some of these forces may be good, I’m not sure that simply embracing them is a healthy reaction either.

But there is a third option: a response of action resulting from hearing a word from God.

Two months ago (Musings #4), I wrote: We know that all the things that can be shaken will be so that only what cannot be shaken remains. Let’s pray that God shakes anything within us that we rely on that doesn't come from Him, so that only things unshakable remain -- His kingdom in our lives. And let us give thanks and offer ourselves to God for whatever service to which He calls. Hebrews 12:28-29. Pray that we come out of this crisis changed, with the ability to live more in the reality of the eternal kingdom, God’s rule shall be forever unshakable.

History teaches external pressure can be a catalyst for something new

How have external events affected the spread of the gospel?

We tend to attribute the spreading of the gospel to someone’s internal motivation or to a response to a “calling,” individually or communally. While this is true, history also shows us that external factors played just as big of a role. Perhaps we can learn from that, embrace and respond to our circumstances in ways that open new doors, just as Peter did in Jaffa. (See Musings #11)

Consider three events in history--

1)  Stephen’s martyrdom and persecution (34 AD)

“Those who had been scattered (from Jerusalem) preached the word wherever they went”. Acts 8: 4

Persecution against those who followed Jesus began in Jerusalem. Stephen was martyred. Acts 8 says, “On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.” The movement of proclaiming the gospel outside Jerusalem started as a result of external circumstances-- persecution that led the followers to run for their lives. As they were scattered, they shared the good news with new people in the new places they came across.

These disciples started the spread of the gospel that ultimately reached the ends of the Roman empire because they responded to the persecution by looking outward—rather than looking back to safely “re-establish” what they lost. The external pressure precipitated the proclamation of the gospel from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria unto the ends of the earth.

2)  Political upheaval and the Moravians (1600s)

Prior to the Protestant Reformation, a small gathering of believers from Moravia and Bohemia (modern day Czech Republic) ignited the modern-day missionary movement.

During the ensuing struggles of political and economic dominance of the Protestant Reformation, the war between Rome and Protestant nations ravaged the European continent. In the mid-1600s Rome won the wars in Moravia and Bohemia. The resulting treaty deemed all citizens shall either become Catholic, flee, or be executed.

The small band of brothers fled to Germany and were offered refuge by Count Nicholas Louis von Zinzendorf—a wealthy nobleman who followed Jesus.  Zinzendorf’s estate became a refuge for refugee believers and the loci of spiritual birth. These men and women committed themselves to character above political influence, extensive time in prayer and scripture and to loving each other.

They then set their eyes on the nations. The extent of geographic boundaries they overcame is overshadowed only by the pre-existing norms that didn’t stand in their way.   They were sent out to the West Indies, Africa and America. In addition to the spiritual DNA established on Zinzindorf’s estate, holding a job in one’s missional setting was required - not just to make money, but also to be attached to and serve the community in which you were ministering. Some even offered themselves to be sold as slaves in order to take the gospel where no white person was otherwise allowed to go. They greatly influenced William Carry as he took the gospel to India, and John Wesley’s as as he traveled to America.

These disciples started the spread of the gospel that ultimately reached the ends of the earth because they responded to political upheaval by looking outward—rather than looking back to “re-establish” what they lost. The external pressures precipitated the spread of the gospel from Moravia to Germany and West Indies unto the ends of the earth

3) Violence and displacement and the Free Burma Rangers (1990s)