This is not a critique on how any one nation or government has handled the outbreak of the coronavirus. That would be beyond my expertise. I believe each is trying their best to contain this contagion for which none was prepared. This is about those who want to assign spiritual blame for it.
Last week I addressed the question, Is COVID-19 a judgment from God? I said I agree with Tim Keller, the answer to that question is a nuanced “yes” and “no.” It is part of God’s judgment of original sin and its continued influence, but it is not a judgment on any particular person or group; that judgment comes later.
But for those who believe it is a judgment from God in a more particular sense, they will cast about to assign blame. Some have already targeted the LGBTQ community as the scapegoat. I believe that is theologically myopic.
This is not an effort to minimize the sinfulness and pestiferous influence the LGBTQ community has on themselves specifically and our culture generally; I am simply saying they, or any other group or combination of groups, do not deserve all the blame for what we are experiencing.
The sexual revolution of the 1960’s spawned a widespread laxity toward sexual immorality that glamorized adultery and fornication. Adulterers and fornicators cannot stand on the moral high ground and condemn homosexuality. It was heterosexual sin that ushered in homosexual sin.
I do not see the coronavirus discriminating between one type of sin over another, or one group over another. It seems this virus does not discriminate between the righteous and the unrighteous and that does not reflect the nature of God.
When God was considering destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham knowing his nephew Lot lived in Sodom questioned God, “Far be it from You…to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” Genesis 18:25.
Not finding ten righteous people in the city God destroyed it, but not before removing the four righteous that were there, Lot, his wife, and their two daughters. When it comes to judgment God does not treat the righteous and wicked alike.
Paul wrote, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23. For centuries there are those who blame the Jews for the crucifixion of Christ because they were His accusers before Pilate, but that is also theologically shortsighted. Jesus died for sinners, so, when I look for who is to blame for the crucifixion of Christ I need look no farther than my own mirror.
We have all sinned and need to heed the words of Christ, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish,” Luke 12:5. Now is not the time to play the blame game, we are all guilty; now is the time to repent.
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