Editor’s Note: 2020 has been a tremendously difficult year for the world. In fact, many of us want to throw it into a dumpster and forget it ever existed. But we know that God has been sovereign over and through 2020, and because of this, we know that there are real moments of grace and redemption.
To help us to identify these movements of God, we asked our SOLA Council members to share their reflections on what this pandemic and its consequences have revealed. We have collected their responses into a new SOLA series: “The Redemption of 2020.” We hope their thoughts and testimonies will be an encouragement to Christians and local churches as we enter into 2021 and beyond. This is the fourth installment of our series.
“The Reality of Sin”
Justin Kim
In terms of 2020, I feel like we’re still in a sci-fi movie. Sometimes I walk out and I get surprised by everyone wearing a mask because it seems like something out of a Netflix movie. But this is our reality.
This year has been really a tough year with tremendous losses in many aspects, whether it’s economic loss, loss of health, or other things.
So I keep thinking, “Lord, with my convictions and my theology, show me that you are still sitting on the throne.” We can’t lose sight of that. But if we do have this tremendous loss but we gain Christ, is it worth it? Yes, it’s painful, but maybe this was a wake-up call. This is a spiritual priority that people are waking up to.
What has happened this year is not good. But Jesus is good, and he is good enough for us. That conviction of the Gospel, the conviction that we have a savior, and really focusing on where our hope should lie is so important.
COVID-19 is real. It’s deadly and it’s spreading. But as God’s people, it can really debilitate us and strike us with fear that we forget that though we can lose our physical lives, what matters most is our eternal lives.
So what has been good is reminding people to hate the real virus — the virus of sin. We can’t lose sight of that. We’ve got to keep demonstrating and expressing the Gospel through words and works. Nothing, including COVID, should stop ministry. In fact, it can’t stop the spread of the Gospel.
If anything, there’s more urgency and more of a pressing need to keep living out the Gospel and spreading the Gospel. It’s very simple, but sometimes we lose sight of the calling that God has given to us. I feel like this need is crystallized more than ever because who knows what’s going to happen in the future, even with the vaccine.
“What is Essential?”
Steve Choi
This season has obviously been a challenge for all of us. But for Christians, one thing that pops into my mind is the word that has been used often: the word “essentials.”
We talk often about, “What is an essential?”, “Who is an essential worker?”, and so on. When I pause and think about “What are the essentials?”, I think about relationships, especially our relationship with our God, our Heavenly Father, and how important that is in how that sustains us in our daily life.
I think about our relationships with our families. Though this [time] is difficult, and we grieve as we miss out on things, at the same time, we’ve had some wonderful memories. We may look back at this time, and if there’s one thing that we will miss, it will be uninterrupted family times of meals, game nights, or just spending time leisurely.
And thirdly, [I think about] our church family. Not being able to meet for a long time has been so difficult and as we are starting to meet as a church in person it feels like a big family reunion, and so we are grateful for that. [Editor’s Note: This was recorded before COVID numbers spiked again in Southern California and more in-person restrictions were implemented]
So when I think about the word essential, I think about what is important. We will walk away from this time with our priorities completely reshaped. I hope that we will learn and grow in our relationship with God, in my family, and my church family, and that we will make those things the essential priorities of our time. I am grateful and blessed by those things.