Prior to the recent school tragedy, a member of the church I serve as interim Senior Pastor sent me a quote on a 1942 C.S. Lewis quote about Satan and Jesus. Upon authentication, it was said to be a “false claim”. Various social media posts display a quote from ‘Satan’, where he describes the fear and anxiety he will provoke, and then one from ‘Jesus’, who says he will bring together people and families. The full text is shown below:
“Satan: I will cause anxiety, fear and panic. I will shut down business, schools, places of worship, and sports events. I will cause economic turmoil.
Jesus: I will bring together neighbours, restore the family unit, I will bring dinner back to the kitchen table. I will help people slow down their lives and appreciate what really matters. I will teach my children to rely on me and not the world. I will teach my children to trust me and not their money and material resources.”
This viral quote, however, was misattributed to C.S. Lewis. It can instead be traced back to a Facebook post made on March 12, 2020 by a U.S. woman named Heidi May. Does it matter who wrote this? The fact is that its insights are worth reflecting on at this time. It brings to mind what Joseph said to his brothers in Genesis 50:20: “You meant evil against me, but God used it for good”.
Many times, things go against us that seem evil – sometimes they are indeed evil – and God is able to use them for good anyway. I was intrigued by Max Lucado’s article, In God’s hand intended evil becomes eventual good, as it expressed so well the essence of Genesis 50:20.
Joseph tied himself to the pillar of this promise and held on for dear life. Nothing in his story glosses over the presence of evil. Quite the contrary. Bloodstains, tearstains are everywhere. Joseph’s heart was rubbed raw against the rocks of disloyalty and miscarried justice. Yet time and time again God redeemed the pain. The torn robe became a royal one. The pit became a palace. The broken family grew old together. The very acts intended to destroy God’s servant turned out to strengthen him.
“You meant evil against me,” Joseph told his brothers, using a Hebrew verb that traces its meaning to “weave” or “plait.”
“You wove evil,” he was saying, “but God rewove it together for good.”
God, the Master Weaver. He stretches the yarn and intertwines the colours, the ragged twine with the velvet strings, the pains with the pleasures. Nothing escapes His reach. Every king, despot, weather pattern, and molecule are at His command. He passes the shuttle back and forth across the generations, and as He does, a design emerges. Satan weaves; God reweaves. (Max Lucado)
In the wake of the recent school tragedies, Salt & Light carried testimonies of Christians regarding these tragedies. Yet, if these things were to take place in my household, I would not be sure if I could say the same. God can turn evil for good in our lives when we allow him to empower us to use these evil attacks as opportunities to show the love of Christ. For example, when we forgive those who sin against us, we show them the power of God. Satan may want you to spread hate in return, but if you respond with forgiveness, God gets the glory.
According to Scripture, one of the primary ways God uses evil for good in our lives is by using bad things to proclaim the gospel in ways that would not have been unless such evil occurred. One great example of this can be found in the life of Paul, who was imprisoned by evil people for proclaiming Christ. Sometime back, I had that close encounter with authorities for preaching Christ where I was not supposed to. Some of our young people witnessed that close encounter and, frankly, if anything bad had happened there and then, I’m not sure if I could have truly claimed that “you meant evil against me and God turned it for good”.
We thought that churches would be re-opened soon for on-site worship, but with the recent rise in COVID cases we are now taking two steps back. The question is whether this pandemic is evil and whether God can and will turn it for good. The closure of churches during the COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown has forced Christian churches to ‘do church’ differently and to re-imagine the future of the church. For a long time, many churches resisted change and spoke against considering or even implementing different ideas of being church today. The pandemic is radically altering every aspect of life as we know it, presenting a threat to long-established and cherished patterns, but also offering opportunities for significant and life-affirming change.
God has, through this pandemic, shifted churches into a somewhat revolutionary way of thinking and being church today. By this, I mean that we were forced to think outside the box and look to very different ways of functioning; churches did not have the luxury of choice as we were simply forced to close and had to resort to creative ways of fulfilling our mission. Many churches by now have turned to electronic platforms to reach their members, and this has sped up the inevitable rise of the digital church. Churches had to adjust to digital worship, digital sacraments, digital sermons, digital tithes, and digital mission.
Pastors have for ages encouraged worshippers to “come to church”, and some often resorted to making believers feel guilty if they didn’t attend church. The pandemic has turned this plea to “please join us on YouTube or other electronic platforms”. The church buildings may be closed but the churches (people of God) are still alive and active. What we see in Christianity so often is a move away from family (often splitting to different rooms in church for activities) towards organised and artificial performances in sacred buildings, away from the reality of daily life. So, what we see in this pandemic is the church returning to its roots – back to where it came from (house churches). In essence, churches have not closed but come home – a church in each home.
This pandemic has resurrected the concept of the priesthood of all believers, created new opportunities for its recognition, and abolished the distinction between clergy and laity. It has made it very clear that the resilience of a church does not depend on how many pastors there are, but on whether the laity understands themselves to be fully Church – even without an ordained pastor present. The pandemic has reaffirmed that the church does not live within walls. It is the people of God which, in the power of the Holy Spirit lives and longs for God’s reign in the world. I trust that through this pandemic, God is reweaving the church together for good.
