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Let Us Not Give Up

I'm not a doctor...but I do share a bed with a former medical assistant so that counts for something right?  Bad dad joke, sorry.  But for real, I don't know how serious we should be taking all the news and hype around COVID-19 aka the Coronavirus.  That being said, here are my thoughts and opinions based on the current outbreak and medical situation in my community.

First, I wanted to keep from commenting too much on this publicly.  If it gets bad and people die, I look like a jerk who needed to be more compassionate.  If it's not bad and we cancel events and people stop living their life out of fear over something that doesn't materialize, we all look silly - and miss days, weeks, months, and for some, seasons that we'll never get back.

Our church, like many, has recently asked the question, "Should we have services?  Abbreviated services?  Online services?  Just one? etc."  I didn't plan this verse for my daily devotional:

"And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching." - Hebrews 10:24-25

It seems that it would be cautious to cancel all non-essential large group gatherings.  According to several posts I've read from people in the medical community, this is the simplest way to potentially slow the spread of the virus.

However, that leads to my question - when did church become non-essential?  We can pray together and still have a few feet between us.  We can fellowship a few pews apart.  We need the encouragement of other sane people who realize that yes, this virus has some serious potential, but so do the other million bacteria that are out there ever single day.

I don't want to be the "sissy" group, company, or employee who cancels things any time something could happen that might be scary (snow, wind, coronavirus, Y2K, etc.)  Maybe it's how I was raised.  Maybe I'm just stubborn.  Maybe I'm stupid and my cause of death will be something that was easily avoidable.  But at least I will have lived while I was here.

Let us not be stupid out there with this (or any other) virus going around.  But let us continue to encourage, to love, to care, and to gather carefully while we are able to do so.

I don't how much time any of us left here on this earth.  But what if this next service was the one where the sacrifice of Christ finally 'clicks' in the heart of a young person and they come to Christ.  What if someone who's following my path - been in church but sort of checked out for a period - finally has their prodigal moment where they realize just how lost they are.  What if someone misses heaven because of a sore throat?

I'm not willing to gamble missing that opportunity so I'll be at church this week, next week, and every week until someone tells me I can't and the dangers have been confirmed.
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