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By Costi Hinn April 28, 2020

If there is one word to describe how we must navigate re-assimilation amid COVID-19, it’s this: grace. 

A friend of mine who happens to be the Vice President of a prominent seminary and no stranger to the challenges in leadership recently tweeted words that accurately predict the current (and coming) landscape in homes, families, and friendships. 

Charles Smith wrote: “Prediction: one of the most challenging aspects of the #COVID19 recovery will be disagreements over acceptable post-COVID social norms between friends and family. Hurt feelings will abound if we’re not careful. Extend lots of grace. Everyone is different.” 

He couldn’t be more right. This reality is especially going to hit hard for pastors — starting with the dynamic between staff and leadership teams. 

I believe one of the ways that the enemy will seek to divide our ranks within the church is by tempting us to use our opinions against each other. If the Devil has his way, we’ll be throwing stones of accusation from all sides, calling the cautious people “soft,” labeling the optimists of being “reckless.” More than that, the enemy especially loves when we cement ourselves in political corners; adding opinionated fuel to the already tumultuous fire of conflict. 

Things can get ugly — very quickly. 

This is a new frontier of ministry for an entire generation of leaders. We must recognize the challenges and begin to determine how we will face COVID recovery before it erodes valuable relationships. 

Navigating our varying COVID convictions is a non-negotiable for any leader who desires not only a physically healthy organization, but an emotionally healthy one too. 

We’re Going to Be Different

The pastoral staff I am a part of is one example of taking differing approaches to COVID quarantine and ministry, and that’s okay. Our different approaches have even become helpful because we can diversify our ministry efforts like different members of the body should (1 Corinthians 12:12). Further, we are sharpened in our ability to love one another regardless of unique circumstances. One of our pastors has vulnerable family members and works exclusively from home. One had a baby during the crisis and needed others to carry the added load while he went on paternity leave. Another can serve more openly in the community right now, while another endured unexpected back surgery and is mostly bound to bed during recovery time. It takes a great deal of sensitivity and understanding to navigate how each member of our team is approaching the scenario. It will continue to require such understanding as we approach re-assimilation with friends, family, and our church. The reality is, we are all a unique blend of experiences, vulnerabilities, preferences, tendencies, and talents. 

Perhaps you relate to one or more aspects of the following COVID-19 profiles: 

Cautious: Those who primarily work from home, follow every aspect of CDC regulations, and prefer to stay conservative about their re-assimilation plan. 

Confident: Those who don’t wear a mask, spend greater amounts of time with people outside their home and don't mind tight proximity, obey the law but don’t necessarily worry much about going the extra-mile with precautions, lean towards re-assimilation now regardless of the news, and some think this crisis may be blown way out of proportion.

“Cauti-dent”: Those who find themselves doing and feeling a little bit of everything in both the cautious and the confident profile. 

There are certainly a few more profiles that could be added here, including those who have strong opinions about churches holding services online instead of gathering physically, obedience to government instructions, and conspiracy theories about numerous aspects of the crisis, but those views do not necessarily help us navigate re-assimilation.

It’s Okay to Be Different

The temptation is to look at these profiles and let your opinion dominate your perspective. 

For highly confident optimists, others are much too conservative. Perhaps, some would even accuse others of living by fear and not faith — which can be true of all of us at times. 

For cautious types, confident optimists may be too relaxed as the “what ifs” begin to creep into their minds. They think, what do we gain by re-assimilating so quickly? Isn’t it better to be safe than sorry?

As the spiral of opinion leads you downward, you must formulate a game plan that takes you upward. It’s okay to be different! To have a healthy family, a healthy team, and a healthy church there must room for different opinions and experiences. These differences often stretch us and help us grow together and learn from each other. We need to respect one another and realize that everyone is navigating a new frontier. 

A healthy relational ecosystem allows for “different,” and even leverages it to help us make decisions. 

Attitude Determines Altitude​

You may have a healthy culture in your church, organization, or family. Conversely, you may be seeing tension rising and anticipate this issue being a major challenge. Whatever the case, your attitude is going to determine your altitude. In other words, whether or not you lead yourself and others above the fray and towards a higher perspective depends on attitude.

Here are 4 attitudes for COVID-19 recovery that will strengthen your ability to navigate differing views and approaches: 

1. Optimistic people are a blessing to my life. It keeps me hopeful about the future and enables me to embrace uncertainty as opportunity. 

2. Cautious people are a blessing to my life. It keeps me sensitive to the needs and concerns of others and enables me to make prudent decisions. 

3. Different gifts and approaches make us all more effective. Pride demands that everyone do things the way we demand. Read 1 Corinthians 12 and celebrate different gifts. 

4. People matter more than my opinion. Being in healthy relationships with people is a privilege that requires me to love others above myself. When I am highly opinionated, I can needlessly hurt others. 

Choose Love

In the end, these attitudes prepare our hearts and minds to do one thing above all else: choose love. Preserving valuable relationships and developing healthy teams, churches, and families is more important than winning arguments, or being (more) right. 

Look, when this crisis begins to wind down, there will be plenty of people who got some things right, and plenty of people who got some things wrong. There will be those who blew things out of proportion, and those who didn’t take things as seriously as they should’ve. Some will take longer to come back to the office, others will rush in (or are already there). 

What will it matter if we re-assimilate only to end up “socially distant” again not because of a virus, but because of our inability to love others who approach COVID-19 differently than we do? 

Choose love.

https://ftc.co/resource-library/blog-entries/navigating-different-covid-19-recovery-convictions

The current global pandemic has created a bumper crop of conspiracy theories.

Sadly, Christians seem to be disproportionately fooled by conspiracy theories. I’ve also said before that when Christians spread lies, they need to repent of those lies. Sharing fake news makes us look foolish and harms our witness.

We saw this in the last election when some of the troll factories focused on conservative, evangelical Christians. Here we go again.

What now?

First, we need to speak up— particularly to those fooled yet again— and lovingly say, "You need to go to trusted sources." Social media news feeds are not a trusted source. That's why we created coronavirusandthechurch.com, to provide credible information for pastors. But, there are plenty of credible news sources— generally from outlets that do not have a track record of conspiracy peddling.

Second, God has not called us to be easily fooled. Gullibility is not a Christian virtue. Believing and sharing conspiracies does not honor the Lord. It may make you feel better, like you are in the know, but it can end up harming others and it can hurt your witness.

Yet now we are dealing with a new flood of conspiracy theories. Look at the list on Wikipedia, or just search for yourself using a few keywords. They are as diverse as they are strange.

And Christians are sharing them. Again.

Mistrust of Media and Government

I understand the mistrust many Christians have toward the media and government. Pew indicated that the most likely people to believe the virus was created in a lab were Republicans, who tend to be the most religious—and most distrustful of government.

However, this mistrust too often leads believers to become more gullible, rather than more discerning.

God's Word calls us to be “wise, not unwise" (Eph. 5:16).

We need to be discerning and thoughful in our beliefs—and in what we share with others.

If you want to believe that some secret lab created Covid-19 as a biological weapon, and now everyone is covering that up, I can't stop you. If you want to believe one of the dozens of conspiracy theories already circulating, that’s your call. But if you do, what will you do when people start believing that the vaccine is also part of this conspiracy?

Similarly, we see some Christian leaders hyped up the idea you are being persecuted if you ignore the current guidelines and try to gather a thousand people together for worship in the pandemic. We saw a few pastors making a spectacle of themselves at Easter when we should be making much of Jesus.

Are there some issues? Yes, some mayors and a governor or two have done and said foolish things. Those actions are already being pushed back in the courts. In a global crisis, some overreact and others respond to them, and they back down. This is not a deep state conspiracy.

Furthermore, China has neither been helpful nor transparent, and more details need to be demanded. Legitimate questions can and should be asked (and are being asked!), but there are stunning and bizarre conspiracy theories about biological warfare, nefarious vaccine plans, plots to wipe out religious liberty, 5G cell towers spreading disease, and so much more.

They fill up the social media feed of many self-identfied Christians. Again.

One of the reasons I wrote Christians in the Age of Outrage: How to Bring Our Best When the World Is at Its Worst is because Christians are becoming outraged about things that are not true. The end result is they are being easily fooled and join into ideas that can bring real harm, particularly when we do develop a vaccine that can bring substantial help to our communities.

We who know Jesus as Lord ought to do better. A lot better.

Bearing False Witness

Back in 2017, I wrote an article entitled "Christians Repent (Yes, Repent) of Spreading Conspiracy Theories and Fake News— It's Bearing False Witness." While at that time I spoke of another in the centuries-old habit of spreading unproven conspiracies, the point I made then needs to be made again now.

Too many Christians believe "all is fair" in some wars and, in that article, I warned against breaking the eighth commandment in Exodus 20:16 about bearing false witness. We aren't to be driven by fear or anger, but by a desire for "speaking the truth in love" as Paul said in Ephesians 4:15.

Spreading unproven speculation is bearing false witness and I still believe we need to repent when we have borne such witness. We need to spend more time in God's Word and less time being influenced by social media trolls and clickbait.

It is not a mistake that the some of the same people who spread Pizzagate and Seth Rich conspiracies, long since discredited, are back to spread Coronavirus conspiracies.

Let not Christians be among the fooled nor among those spreading foolishness.

Our Witness Is Affected

Think about it.

Unless you believe President Trump, Republicans and Democrats in Congress, the media, and the scientific community are all in league together (a real leap of faith), you are just embarrassing yourself when you spread Coronavirus conspiracies. These vast conspiracies would mean that President Trump, himself, knew this was a bioweapon, is part of the plan to end religious liberty, plans to use a potential vaccine as some mark of the beast, and somehow 5G is part of it all. (Yes, that’s all out there, one web search away— and in far too many Christian social media feeds.)

It just does not make sense—except to the easily fooled.

If you still insist on spreading such misinformation, would you please consider taking Christian off your bio so the rest of us don’t have to share in the embarrassment?

Bringing Harm

Long story short, you're ultimately bringing harm to yourself and your community. You may make yourself feel like you're making a difference when you are not.

Most importantly, we damage our witness and that of your church when you focus on unproven theories and speculation more than the good news we've been commanded by our Lord to proclaim.

As Austin Jones tweeted, “Last week my Facebook feed was full of people posting crazy Covid conspiracy theories, followed by posts about evidence for the resurrection. I don’t think they realize the message they are actually sending.”

Indeed.

Jesus last earthly words in Acts 1:8 promised us that we would receive the Spirit's power and we would bear witness to Jesus. You don't need the power of the Holy Spirit to be undiscerning, and you aren't bearing witness to the saving work of our Lord by spreading conspiracies.

I'm grateful that many, many pastors and church leaders and their churches have used this unusual time not to spread conspiracy theories but to proclaim Christ, not to feed their fears but to serve their community.

Let's continue to provoke one another to good works, hold to what is true, and refuse that which is false.

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Publishing note:

Since publishing, this article has received hundreds of thousands of views and likes, and has generated significant response, both in support and some pushback. I welcome interaction and challenge.

Just after the publication of the blog, John Roberts from FoxNews—a mainstream and legitimate news division—asked president Trump about the connection to a lab in China. That question, and the stories that followed, does not really change my point—the conspiracy was that it was created in a lab as a bioweapon. Thus, if a natural virus was being studied in a lab and accidentially escaped, the point still stands.

As FoxNews reported, “The sources believe the initial transmission of the virus—a naturally occurring strain that was being studied there—was bat-to-human and that ‘patient zero’ worked at the laboratory, then went into the population in Wuhan” (Italics added).

In full disclosure, I did not expect the lab to be a point of contention, so that was a surprise to me. I am glad to say is now appropriately being investigated. Per my article, you can’t keep a conspiracy among all those parties. Someone will ask the question— thus, this is now being investigated. So, can we agree that the 5G cell towers, vaccines, bioweapons, and others ARE NOT a conspiracy? Probably not everyone will see that, but most can. And, my point here still remains. And I’ve edited the article to make that point clearer.

So, contrary to the conspiracy, this was not created in a lab as a weapon. The FoxNews story specifically says that is not the case, saying (their words) “not as a bioweapon.” The conspiracy theories are focused on lab creation, bioweapons, 5G, vaccines, and much more. And when Christians share those conspiracies, it hurts our witness.

Finally, The Exchange blog team regularly updates and reorganizes my posts, have done so here, and will continue to do so as new information comes in.

Thanks for reading and sharing!

Ed Stetzer is executive director of the Billy Graham Center, serves as a dean at Wheaton College, and publishes church leadership resources through Mission Group. The Exchange Team contributed to this article.

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