Love in the Time of Coronavirus

　　Had it not been for the coronavirus outbreak, we would be able to gather and worship as usual. We would not need to keep a distance from one another or reduce social contact. Classes would not need to be suspended; members of different communities would not be feeling disconnected; and our city would not be sliding into a recession. It has been some time since classroom teaching at Hong Kong Baptist Theological Seminary was suspended and lessons are being held online instead. Not able to study and do homework together, or simply spend time and hang out with each other, many of our students are missing face-to-face fellowship with their classmates, feeling disconnected with each other and spiritually dry.

Conquering Darkness with Love

　　Now, we must not be defeated by what appears to be days of darkness. We need to face the challenges with love! Whenever we talk about love, the passage that may come into our minds is 1 Corinthians 13, also widely known as the Chapter of Love. In fact, this chapter is frequently used for sermons at weddings or wedding anniversaries. However, Paul had not meant for this passage to be used for premarital counselling or wedding preaching. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul had meant to teach the Christians at Corinth how to love and bond with one another, that is, in essence, how members of the body of Christ should love each other. Of course, it is acceptable for pastors to use this scripture at weddings, teaching couples how to love one another. After all, how can one love one’s other half when they do not even understand the love between members of the body of Christ? But the scripture deserves more credit as a lesson about mutual love amongst members of the community, as one would wonder whether the church would still be the body of Christ if members of the church do not love each other.

Ministries in the Community

　　Dr. Roger L. Walton, a Methodist minister in the UK, was surprised by what Dietrich Bonhoeffer had written in Life Together about “ministries in the community.” He pointed out that ministries to be exercised between Christians living together are not identified by Bonhoeffer as preaching, teaching or pastoral care. Rather, there must be: first, a ministry of holding one’s tongue; second, a ministry of meekness; third, a ministry of listening; fourth, a ministry of helpfulness; and fifth, a ministry of bearing. ^* As you may have noticed, these five ministries are not any new insights that blow us away, but simply what we should practice and live out as disciples of the Lord.

　　The fourth ministry of helpfulness is particularly meaningful to us in Hong Kong amidst this epidemic. What the ministry of helpfulness means is the willingness to be interrupted, seeing those who intrude into one’s personal plans as a gift of God. ⁺ Everyone in the city has been living in times of shortage of face masks and hand sanitizers. Back in ancient times, a Chinese poet wrote, “A letter from home is worth ten thousand pieces of gold as the beacon fires have been burning for three months.” Today, it is that “a face mask is worth ten thousand pieces of gold as the plague has been spreading for over three months”! The general public are worrying that their stock of epidemic prevention supplies is running low. It may be the first time we found that money is not everything in our lives. How helpless, panicky and even desperate it is that even money cannot get us more face masks and hand sanitizers! This is a scenario that did not appear even back in the days of the SARS outbreak in 2003. We are heartbroken, worried and even furious when we see people, especially the elderly, queueing overnight for one or two boxes of face masks, as well as panic-buying at supermarkets.

Exercising the Ministry of Helpfulness

　　Do we see such helpless citizens sitting beside us today? Are there members of the church who dare not step out of the house, go to church services, or could not even go to work in the past months because they lack masks? Wouldn’t this be the perfect opportunity and the responsibility given by God for us to exercise the “ministry of helpfulness,” showing our care to those in need and sharing with them masks and other epidemic prevention supplies? We can even expect a widespread economic downturn is coming. We can support members of the church by conveying the love of God with our concrete actions. This is how you can shower them with blessings and nourish their souls. Therefore, living out love in the times of a raging epidemic is the essence and mission of the disciple community (church). Of course, we must make it clear here that it does not mean that we only take care of members in Christ and neglect others who may or may not know Him. The point is, would it make any sense if we cannot even love members of our own family and church but care for those we do not know instead? This is just as irrational as it is to say that someone is passionate about mission work but has little interest in sharing the gospel with their own families and friends!

　　Being not able to gather and missing out on fellowship in the past few months, do you feel disconnected with others? The Bible teaches us to practice the teaching of 1 Corinthians 13 if we want to establish our daily relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ. If we can see members of the church as those we love, this bonding of love will become the energy and foundation of our fellowship. When our relationship is hit by the raging storm, this love in Christ is one of the powers that will see us through. As the epidemic continues to spread today, let us drive out the fears and uneasiness haunting many with the love of Christ, living out His gospel and hope.

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^* Roger L. Walton, Disciples Together: Discipleship, Formation and Small Groups (London: SCM, 2014), 35-36.
⁺ Walton, Disciples Together, 36.