Love in the Time of Coronavirus

Above all we should say, “Do not be afraid.”

We should not say to fearful people, “You’re overreacting.”

It is absolutely true that people immersed in media of any kind react to news and rumors in unhelpful ways. But meeting anxiety with an accusation of overreacting is not likely to help. The biggest problem in most of the United States as I write is that many people, and many institutions, a

The only thing to fear, as Jesus said, is the one who can cast body and soul into hell. But we have been rescued from that fear, and having been rescued there is truly nothing that can separate us from the love of God.

We need to redirect social energy from anxiety and panic to love and preparation. This crisis presents an extraordinary opportunity to fortify small communities of love and care for our neighbors. That will only happen if we lead in a way that reduces fear, increases faith, and reorients all of us from self-protection to serving others.

We have become accustomed to culture being shaped “somewhere else” — by elected officials, especially national ones; by celebrities; by media. But we are dealing with a virus that is transmitted person to person, in small and large groups of actual people. This is not a virtual crisis — it is a local, embodied one. Local, embodied responses will qu

At this extraordinary moment, local leaders — people who lead groups of 10 to 1,000 people — have perhaps the greatest opportunity to shape culture in the United States that they have ever had.

We can reclaim the household as the fundamental unit of personhood, the place where we all are best known and cared for.

We should say, “Love is the reason we are changing our behavior.”

Worship is essential for human flourishing. For one thing, we are all worshipping something all the time. The idolatries that fester, even in a well-disciplined Christian heart, when we are confronted with nonstop news of terror and rumors, can only really be put to rest when we gather with others to “set forth God’s praise, hear his Holy Word, and