... Those Who Kill the Body but Cannot Kill the Soul

　　Following the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2003, the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has recently begun ravaging the world. The outbreak has yet to be contained and the virus is spreading across the globe. Many people in infected areas feel shaken, including those in Hong Kong. Some are rushing to buy masks, disinfectants, bleach, rice and paper towels; a significant portion of them are Christians who have believed in the Lord for years. Facing this situation, apart from making alternate arrangements for church meetings, pastors and church leaders should also keenly consider how to provide the appropriate pastoral care for the various believers who are living under the threat of this epidemic and for those in isolation or quarantine. Looking back over two thousand years of Church history, one finds that the church community has been struck by plagues many times; the experience, testimonies, and teachings of our predecessors may remind us of some valuable lessons today.

The Plague in Alexandria

　　Two examples warrant mentioning here. In AD 263, a severe plague broke out in Alexandria. Eusebius of Caesarea, a church historian, preserves the testimony of the local bishop Dionysius of Alexandria in his Historia Ecclesiastica. It is recorded that during the plague outbreak, with no modern isolation facilities at that time, these heathens had no choice but to desert those who caught the disease, even their relatives and close friends. They abandoned the dying on the streets, and no one dared to bury the dead. In contrast, the Christians were quite different. Dionysius praised them: “Most of our brothers showed unbounded love and fraternity. They encouraged one another, and heedless of danger, they visited the sick, attending to their every need and ministering to them in Christ. They cheerfully shared their neighbors’ suffering and pain, willingly exposing themselves to their disease; many brothers even fell ill and died as a result of taking care of the sick and strengthening them.” Among those who died for the service of their neighbors were prestigious elders and deacons. Piety and faith were shown in their deeds, and Dionysius celebrated their actions as tantamount to “martyrdom.”

The Black Death in Wittenberg

　　Another example occurred when the Black Death struck Wittenberg in AD 1527. Fearing for the safety of Martin Luther and other professors at Wittenberg University, Elector John the Steadfast ordered all university faculty members to take shelter 90 miles south in Jena, and resume classes there. However, Martin Luther and his colleague John Bugenhagen insisted on staying in Wittenberg, so they could continue to minister to the sick and the frightened inhabitants. In his letter “Whether One May Flee from a Deadly Plague,” Luther pointed out that for general believers, fleeing the infected area for self-preservation is a natural and reasonable reaction; however, those in ministry should not run away, because “the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Believers facing the threat of the deadly disease are those most in need of pastoral care. By the same token, public officials and servants, such as mayors, judges, physicians and police officers, must also stay and continue to protect the general public through good governance. Only when their public duties had properly been taken by others could they leave the infected area.

Divine Mission and Earthly Life

　　The members of the early church in Alexandria as well as Martin Luther and the others insisted on staying in the infected areas amidst the plague outbreaks to take care of those who were frightened and ill, not out of their ignorance of the diseases’ infectiousness or lethality, nor due to being overly optimistic that they would not get sick under God’s providence. Instead, they upheld that fulfilling their Christian missions was more important than preserving their earthly lives, as the Bible says: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” (Mt 10:28) Their examples may serve as valuable reminder for Christians today. Faced with a terrible epidemic, are we like the heathen and rushing to buy stuff merely for our own needs, or are we keeping the principles of Christian faith and willingly making sacrifices for others?

　　To have a deeper thought on this, we may find that in fact, all sorts of spiritual plagues have already been spreading in our world, such as the plagues of “Church secularization,” “fervent pursuit of fame and fortune,” and “falsehood and hypocrisy”; and last year during the social unrest in Hong Kong, many Christians, including those who have believed in the Lord for years, have unconsciously caught the plagues of “lacking compassion” and “hatred of others.” These plague epidemics can cause us to go astray from the truth of the Bible and become confused about what is right and wrong. These are more horrifying than the virus that kills the body but cannot kill the soul. We pay great attention to wearing masks, washing hands frequently and avoiding gathering in order to prevent the spread of the infectious disease. But are we dealing with the spiritual plagues with the same caution? May the Lord enlighten and help us!