Opening to a New Perspective

"I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel" (Phil 1:12).

The famous 17th-century puritan preacher and writer John Bunyan was arrested and jailed in England for preaching publicly without a license. At one time, he was incarcerated for twelve years, during which time he wrote many books and pamphlets. It was during his imprisonment that he wrote the Pilgrim's Progress, said to be probably the most famous book ever written in the English language. So, rather than seeing his imprisonment as a great tragedy, Bunyan took an optimistic view of it.

Bunyan's story and perspective, evoke Paul the apostle's attitude, who was also jailed several times on account of the gospel. During his four years of imprisonment in Caesarea and Rome, he wrote epistles that are far more remarkable than Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress.

Paul did not let his predicament and subjective anxieties cloud his objective belief in God's truth. He didn't lose his sense of purpose or mission, despite a crisis situation. He saw his 'lockdown' as an opportunity for advancing the gospel. He saw the big picture. He didn't allow persecution and prison to rob him of his joy, composure, confidence, compassion for others, focus on what mattered most, and devotion to God.

As we navigate through these uncertain times, we should draw insights from Bunyan and Paul.  As Christians, we are people of light, we shouldn't let our vision be blurred or befuddled by the vicissitudes of these dark and dire times. We can't allow our subjective feelings to obscure our ability to act on God's truth in such a time as this. If we are slack in the day of distress, our strength is limited (Prov 24:10).

Come what may, the Church must not lose sight of the big picture, we should keep moving forward because the gospel isn’t limited by a shutdown, guidelines, or any restriction whatsoever. The church should reach out with gracious expressions of sacrificial love, refocusing on meeting the growing needs of our hurting world. 

We may never be able to fully remove or avoid negative elements in society, but we can ensure that there are more positive vibes being generated than negative ones. Paul's gracious attitude was a great encouragement to others in furtherance of the gospel ( v. 14). Our utterances, in view of ensuing developments, should be gracious and soothing. This is the time to let our "gentleness [graciousness, reasonableness] be apparent to all" (Phil 4:5). We should shy away from making divisive statements that could rile up negative emotions and dim our Christian presence and essence. 

Let's get creative as we leverage the influence of the Holy Spirit to brood over the darkness of our time, and lead us to new discoveries. We should explore innovative ways of motivating one another and engaging our world in care, prayer, discipleship, fellowship, evangelism, and ministry.

In responding to extraordinary times, the church should be willing to go beyond the constraints of traditions, liturgies, places of worship and programmes, to forge ahead with purpose in making an extraordinary impact. We shouldn't be waiting or clamouring for things to return to normal, we should be leveraging the 'new normal'.