The Real “New Normal”
There is a lot of talk of the “new normal” resulting from this strange and frustrating season. To be honest, it’s all naval-gazing. It’s all “Woe is us! Guess this is how things are now.” Even state leaders who ought to know better pronounce that their slow, agonizing processes are the “new normal”, that things are changing for the worst and you just need to come to terms with that and move on. They pronounce gloom for the foreseeable future, like Eeyore. There’s nothing that can be done to make things better and anyone who is aimed at hope is lying or selling something.
There are half a dozen articles that say this very same thing, and scrolling through Twitter has an identical result. Many have become self-appointed prophets of grim news — this is the way things are going to be. COVID-19 will define the world for a long time to come. “End of the road…nothin’ to do…and no hope of things getting better…” (That’s Eeyore, in case you were wondering)
That’s the most laughable amount of sheer nonsense I’ve ever heard or read in my entire life. I’ve watched dumb movies with more reasonable plots than the negativity and cynicism all over the news and social media. This is so far from the “new normal.” There’s no Bible for this as the “new normal.” Suffering and loss can happen and will happen, yes — but it isn’t “normal”. It’s the result of a fallen world pulling itself away from God as hard as it can. The Gospel of John has one story (out of so many across the book and across the whole of Scripture) that truly defines what is and should be normal:
The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”
“Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.”
The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.”
Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household believed. (John 4:49–53)
That is the new normal. Not disease, lack, death and decay. The normal is Jesus. The “new normal” is that He came to rebuke and dismiss death and disease and to take their power. The new normal is Jesus with authority over everyone and everything — government officials and disease alike! This man of influence and position hears Jesus say “GO” and he goes. This royal official chooses to obey and believe the amazing thing Jesus declares, as if He is already right there with his dying son. And it turns out, the sickness left the instant the words left Jesus’ mouth.
The new normal is walking and leaping back home to the abundant joy of your family and friends. The new normal is having faith that Jesus has been given the ultimate authority over sin, sickness, and all people who have ever lived and will live. We don’t have to be physically present in hospitals or in Washington D.C. to declare the authority of Jesus over darkness, because He has given us the authority He had over that dying boy while He was on earth.
So dismiss it all; turn off the TV or your radio, put way your phone. Turn to your family and friends, instead. The world will wail and moan about all this for as long as they want, and they will insist they’re right about it. After all, they were right about stuff before, weren’t they? (Hint: they weren’t then and they aren’t now)
Jesus is the One who is always right, because He’s the Boss. He is the Master of the future, and He says all of this is just a blip in the whole of history. What will be defining about this moment is how we choose to react as Christians, whether here in America or elsewhere. The choice is between Tigger and Eeyore — hope-filled, expectant, child-like joy or a running commentary of sadness and negativity.
Will we pull an Eeyore and moan about the woes of COVID-19, or will we turn around and go home, bounding with exceeding joy, hope, and great expectations, because Jesus is in command?
I think the choice is an easy one to make!
