As the world grinds to a halt from COVID-19, artists and creatives have a unique opportunity to minister through their work.
The days tick by, orders are made, and suddenly, despite the increased caution we’ve grown accustomed to, everything grinds to a complete halt as the unthinkable happens: by executive decree, the freedom of movement is restricted nationwide in the effort to stop the spread of Covid-19. A nightmare scenario for anyone of a libertarian mindset, a comforting step for those less suspicious of our governing betters, a controversy that will certainly be debated when the storm we currently face has passed, but seems otherwise inevitable in the face of uncertainty.
I’ve stopped following the news, disgusted by the obvious spin and efforts to generate and capitalize on panic in the face of uncertainty. Instead, I have turned to official documents and press releases, going straight to the source to parse out reality for myself, a return to a simpler mindset that I lost somewhere a few years back. I thank God that the subtext of our local orders seems to be a respect for individual liberties, with clauses highlighting that abridgements of constitutional rights will be deemed illegal, regardless of what the moment seems to call for.
For now, at least in the quiet corner of the world that I inhabit, the march of totalitarianism, one of my deepest fears, seems quelled, though I am not so foolish as to think for one second that there are not opportunists waiting in the wings, eager to take advantage of a crisis. Time will tell, but I will, for the time being, turn my eyes away from speculation and focus instead on what I know for sure.
I turn to church leaders, eager to hear the thoughts of those in whom we have entrusted our guidance, and hear echoed the deepest convictions of my heart: we truly do not what precisely is happening in the world, but we do know that God is sovereign, and we know that times such as these are the things that revivals are made of.
Times such as these are the moments that cause complacency to lose its luster, and the vain comforts of the material world to blow away into the dust that we have been thoroughly assured that they ultimately are. Times such as these are when we as human beings realize with utter certainty how wild this world truly is, and how little control we have.
I frankly have no idea how someone without faith in a higher power is coping with the unfolding drama that this pandemic has brought to bear. I believe in a sovereign, good God who has vouchsafed my soul, and I find myself intermittently throughout the weeks shaken at how truly alone we are in this pandemic but for the grace of God.
Our marketplace offers nothing, a few weeks of closures having broken an unprecedented course of prosperity. Our governments have proven impotent in preparing for or implementing strategies to avoid the worst possibilities. There is no hope in this world but for God.
And that, I think, is precisely the point of this moment in history.
Western civilization has been unspeakably blessed over the course of the last century with the most prosperous society in all of human history, and our response to such providence has been a wholesale turning away from the source of our blessings. We have answered God’s provision with proclamations of His death, rejection of truth, and a loving of self.
With that said, I do not think that this moment in history is a judgment. This moment in history is a wakeup call. I believe that this moment in history will be looked upon in the years to come as one of the greatest things that has ever happened to us as a people. I believe that from this moment in history, our culture will turn back to God and put our priorities in their proper places.
I heard an account from Wuhan, China, the source of the pandemic, from a pastor in the local church who rallied his congregation to help distribute medical supplies over the course of the last few months. As the Chinese government mobilized to crush the spread of information concerning the virus and forcibly quarantine its people, this small church body mobilized in a concerted mission to spread the Gospel.
The result of this mobilization? Revival.
I’m stirred by the testimony that, even as lockdowns occurred, the church in China took to using online services to further inform their neighbors about where to find medical supplies, sharing the Gospel every step of the way. I am stirred that:
“Some started reading the Bible, some inquired about the Christian faith, some even prayed the sinner’s prayer. Some people promised to attend church meetings after the plague, and some were already attending our online meetings. We saw how that with just a little faith we must follow the Lord without fear of danger… In a short time of 60 days, we have seen a big renewal in the ministry of church members. We saw that this plague was meant to bring about a great revival of the church. This revival was not started after the end of the plague, but in the course of the plague, we saw the wonderful grace of God manifested.”
https://infuyin.com/article/34
Please see the full video here, as well as the article from Dr. Michael Heiser where I found it.
I am stirred because that account from Wuhan is not unique. I have been hearing similar accounts from church communities in the West, and I think God is moving mightily throughout this time of uncertainty.
I am stirred because during this time, there are opportunities for ministry at every corner. Be it podcasting and blogs, or motivational posts online. The world is at a standstill, and so many are grasping for hope and finding none. Celebrity culture seems to have ebbed into obscurity, the austerity of it laid bare in the face of reality.
There are families walking the streets in our neighborhood. Our church’s online presence has exploded as we reach more and more people. Neighbors are talking to neighbors. Our societal fabric and civil society seems to be reforming each and every day.
That this coincides with Holy Week, or Easter Week, I think, is miraculous. How many who may not have ever darkened the door of a church will tune in to an Easter live stream next weekend? How many will hear the Gospel for the first time?
God has gone before us to prepare the infrastructure for a mighty Kingdom work, and I am beyond excited to see it.
In my own quiet corner, I am humbled by the reality that there are ministry opportunities available that make plain the purpose of years worth of unpaid labor and struggles on project after project that seemed so trite and empty in the moment, but have built up networks and skills necessary to spread the Gospel now when the cultural soil is tilled and ready.
I am confident that the impact of the last few weeks and whatever is to come is going to leave a mark on our world, nation, city, and community for the foreseeable future. Each generation has its collection of defining cultural moments that alter the course of history, and this is one of ours.
It is Holy Week, and for the last few years I have been privileged to lead a group of creatives in the Atlanta area in applying their talents to sharing the Gospel and ministering to the church body and city as a whole. This year we will not have a gallery opening in person, but instead online, and as such, we are at a unique crossroads as creatives.
If you are an artist or creative person, as the world around us has ground to a halt and others panic, it is highly likely that each of you has had some sort of insight that might help minister to the body of Christ in a unique way. For me personally, this came by way of realizing that my years of musing on mortality and other melancholy subjects had short-circuited panic, allowing me to step into a difficult place at my job at a critical moment in our organization’s history.
Perhaps you have had a similar experience fighting anxiety and depression, or otherwise have crossed through spiritual valleys and deserts. Perhaps you aren’t as shaken during this pandemic as everyone else because you’ve already stared death and existential angst in the eye and didn’t blink.
Perhaps this moment in history doesn’t phase you, because you’ve read enough fairy tales to know that the stories that we’ve told ourselves over the years convey nothing if not the undying truth that no matter how dark things seem, God is sovereign and there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.
Perhaps you have some transcendent insight that can speak into this moment.
Perhaps not. Perhaps yours is a different perspective and story to tell, but I know one thing for certain: the body of Christ needs to be ministered to right now, and creative people are uniquely equipped to do it.
We trade in capturing hearts and minds, and now is the time for it, more than ever.
As a church body, we can rationalize and meditate on statistics until we are blue in the face, but cold facts will not lift a wounded heart in the same way that a piece of music will. Statistics will not speak to the deep parts of the soul in the way that a well-written poem will. Executive orders and pithy comments about “getting through this together” will not encourage the lonely in the same way that paint on canvas can when wielded by someone sharing their heart.
This is a time for poets. This is a time for painters. This is a time for artists. This is a time to minister to the people in the church body and those outside of it.
How will you rise to the occasion?