Written by Andrew W. Coy |
Saturday, September 25, 2021
If the virus is to find us, let it find us being Americans and not trolls of a dystopian authoritative regime.  Let it find us singing in the church choir, going to Sunday school, or sitting in our normal pew at church.  Let it find us at the kids’ ballgames, attending the school spelling bee, at cheerleading practice, filling up the tank with gas, or having the grandchildren spending the night.  Let it find us.

It is becoming so painfully clear that those in charge of our lives either do not know what they are doing or are lying to us when it comes to COVID.  There is really no question that those in authority are just lying to us or are simply guessing when it comes to masking, social distancing, the vaccine, and the variances to come.  It is scary, almost dystopian, that those we have allowed to have authority over our health lives have been so wrong or so dishonest when it comes to the effectiveness of the vaccine.  Big Tech along with major corporate companies have aligned with Biden, Fauci, the CDC, and the Deep State in acting as if they know, but in reality, they are very wrong or very untruthful when it comes to the China virus.  They won’t even admit that it probably came from China.  Wonder why?
Whether because we are being lied to or those in power are inept, Americans are increasingly filled with COVID dread.  When we have first-graders wearing masks, motorcycle riders without helmets but wearing masks — when people driving by themselves in a car are wearing a mask, when family members refuse to invite other family members to family picnics because of vaccination demands — we are not living right.  When major companies demand higher premiums from their employees for health insurance because they have refused a questionable vaccine, this is not who America is or what it stands for.
Concerns are legitimate, but we must stop living in fear.  Being careful is appropriate, but we should no longer allow this virus to determine our every move or dominate our thoughts.  We must claim our lives back.
The great C.S. Lewis wrote about living our lives in 1948.  Although Lewis was writing about the Atomic Bomb Age and London, the events and fears are similar.  Lewis encouraged the British to live their lives fully, even under the threat of nuclear annihilation.  We in America must do the same today with regard to the virus.
Let it find us.  If the virus finds us, let it find us living our lives.  Let it find us raising our children.  Let it find us working hard and playing harder.  Let it find us living and not cowering.  Let it find us shouting from the rooftops, not cowering in the corner.  Let it find us at a fully attended family reunion.  
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The trouble with the words used by the clerics is that, at a superficial level, they sound nice. Of course we want safety and non-judgementalism but on examination, not only are the words in this letter meaningless and contrary to the teaching of Christ; they cause harm. While attempting to create a ‘safe space’ for some, they are making the world distinctly more harmful for others. In promoting transgender ideology, they are harming women, children and indeed, men.

There was a time when Church leaders wrote letters that proclaimed and affirmed the Christian faith, challenged false gospels and glorified Christ. Think of Paul’s letters in the Bible or the wonderful letters of John Newton or JRR Tolkien. They are edifying, exhorting and encouraging.
This week a letter was sent from some professed Christian leaders in the UK which is directly the opposite. The Rev Canon Steve Chalke, Rt Hon Dr Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury; Very Rev Rogers Govender, Dean of Manchester Cathedral; Professor Susannah Cornwall, Professor of Constructive Theologies, University of Essex; Rev Paul Bailey, Pentecostal Minister; Very Revd. Dr David Ison, Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral; and several other suitably entitled church leaders.
In their letter to the Prime Minister, they lament that the government’s ban on conversion therapy excludes trans people, and it is worth examining both the background and detail of this letter.
The government itself has got into a bit of trouble over this issue. Firstly, it was announced that it was going to backtrack on the ban on so-called conversion therapy and instead use the existing laws to deal with any wrong practices.But within 24 hours of this U-turn, the government did another one and said it was going ahead with the ban – except for trans people. This U-turn was largely the result of pressure from Tory MPs who haven’t really thought the issue through and didn’t want to be seen as the ‘nasty’ Tories again. Of course, the political and media elites could hardly contain their outrage – cue Twitter ‘outrage’ and lots of stories and reports – and so the U-turn was itself U-turned.
But the latest U-turn was not enough for these Christian leaders; they want the government to go much further. And what their letter reveals is that they are a million miles away from the New Testament letters and the teaching of Jesus. In my view, there are three basic errors which remove them from Christ’s teaching.
1. They do not understand what “conversion” is. Or indeed what a Christian is. The letter argues that “conversion to Christianity is the event or process by which a person responds joyfully to the glorious embrace of the eternally loving and ever merciful God”.They go on to say, “To be trans is to enter a sacred journey of becoming whole, precious, honoured and loved, by yourself, by others and by God.”
This is a classic example of people using spiritual language which sounds good, in order to undermine and change what Jesus actually said. Jesus did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32). He urges us to “produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:8). He tells his church, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline” (Revelation 3:19).
There are hundreds of similar verses throughout the Bible which show clearly that the Good News is not ‘God accepts you are you are and wants to affirm you’, but rather that because God loves you, He wants to change what you are, heal you, forgive you, and give you a new heart.
This is radical conversion. The conversion described by the letter’s signatories is little more than a meaningless meme – with no substance, no love, no reality and no forgiveness. It is in a different spiritual universe from what Paul wrote to the Colossian church: “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry” Colossians 3:5.
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When I ask others why they do what they do, I’m often blessed to hear them describe their love for things I’ve never considered lovable….He is good to allow our enthusiasm about these things to be transferable and contagious.

One of my favorite questions for times of small talk is “Why do you do what you do instead of doing something else?” Or sometimes a variation: “Why do you love what you do?” I ask this when I’m in the barber’s chair, on the x-ray table, or trying to articulate words as the dentist rummages around in my mouth—just about anywhere a person has devoted themselves to a particular vocation. My favorite answer so far has been from a dermatologist: “I work dentist hours but make doctor money.” Clever!
Of course, not everyone has the privilege of doing what they love and that comes out in conversation as well. I have met Uber drivers who immigrated to Canada and, as they did so, lost their engineering credentials. I have met people who were forced by their parents to pursue a field they didn’t care for and people who, through the vicissitudes of life, ended up doing something that engaged little of their passion and few of their skills.
My dad devoted the best of his life to landscaping. And while he loved the design aspect of the job, he also loved the actual work. In most of my memories of him, I picture him digging deep holes to plant trees, lugging huge rocks to build walls, laying bricks and stones to build pathways. He was rarely happier than when he was straining and sweating, combining artistry and brute strength to design something beautiful.
But his path to landscaping was not an easy one. Dad grew up a son of privilege and received little affirmation from his family when it came to his love for the natural world. I never met my grandfather so do not know whether he made dad feel that landscaping was beneath a Challies or whether he had just a bit of a complex about it and assumed his father’s disfavor. Either way, he ended up dedicating most of his life to doing what he loved, but I’m not convinced he always did it with a lot of confidence. I think he often felt the judgment of other people, whether real or imagined. That’s kind of tragic now that I think about it.
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