By Waylon Bailey
Recently, I saw a tweet on Twitter that asked the question, “What would Jesus do in the midst of a worldwide pandemic?”
No answer to the question was given, but the author obviously had an agenda and a suggested answer. The good news is that it led me to really ask, “What would Jesus do?”
A man I’ve known about for a long time tried to answer that question biblically and seriously. Wallace Henley said that Jesus would do now what He did then.
At that point Henley began to describe what Jesus did then and what the church today should do. In my words, the church needs to come out of this pandemic stronger than when we entered this difficult time. We need to make sure we live biblically and express the hope that we have in Christ.
What did Jesus do?
1. He worshiped. Jesus worshiped, and He taught people to worship. He told us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and soul. He told us to worship God in spirit and in truth.
Luke reminded us that Jesus made it His custom to worship the Father.
2. Jesus interceded. One of the great things we can do is intercede for our neighbors. In times like these, people want to pray, and they want us to pray for them. One of my favorite old songs says, “What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.” God wants us to be prayerful about everything and anxious about nothing (Philippians 4:6).
As the church, we need to pray for the people around us and for their needs.
3. He proclaimed the good news of the kingdom.
Both John the Baptist and Jesus brought the same message from the Father, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2, 4:17).
Jesus came to preach the hope that is in God. In these times, the greatest need is to be close to God.
4. He called those He saved to become like Him. As Jesus trained the twelve, He calls the church to train those who come to faith in Christ. The goal of the Christian life is to become like Jesus.
5. He met human needs in the name of the Father. While the greatest of needs is to know God, Jesus cared for people and blessed them in the name of the Father. He calls us to love people as well and to help them when they hurt. As we minister to others, we minister to Christ Himself.
These are the things Christ did. These are the things He wants us to do for this difficult season.
Waylon Bailey is pastor of First Baptist Church in Covington. This editorial first appeared on his blog.
