How to Address a Lack of Faith Regarding Coronavirus

My friend sent a note to me, saying they are afraid of dying as they think about the Coronavirus. They conclude that it reveals a lack of faith. I responded by saying that framing it as a “lack of faith” is not the best way to think about the struggle. I will address this supposed lack of faith, fear of death, and a better way to think about it in this daily brief. I hope that it will serve you as you care for those you love.

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Assessing yourself as having a lack of faith is hard to measure. It is subjective, at best. Perhaps there is another way to discern what could be happening inside of you. In this brief, I’m going to frame the discussion within our current crisis with COVID-19.

The virus has brought “pandemic concern” and worry for millions of people. It is the “heat” (external) that is revealing where we are with the Lord (internal). For some, they are thinking about the possibility of death, and they fear it. They don’t want to die.

We all agree that reasonable people do not want to die unless they are advanced in years and are indeed at the end of their days, and their health is gone. A person like this may be ready to die. When my 98-year-old grandmother was at this point in her life, she had prepared her heart to go. She was in a nursing home, receiving 24/7 care, and was waiting for death. That scenario makes sense. There are other examples of folks in severe health conditions where death seems to be a better option for them.

But a young (or healthy) person is different. If you’re in this category and fear death, is it a lack of faith? I would recommend that you not frame it that way. There are other factors that you can address. Let me list a few of them for you: fear, uncertainty, worry, not taking thoughts captive, love for family, desire to serve the Lord more.

All of these things can hinder your faith, without question. But rather than trying to figure out if you don’t have enough faith, pinpoint these more “hands-on” possibilities. Your faith could be vibrant, but now you’re in a season of reflection, and it feels like a lack of faith when, maybe, you’re prone to worry, which is a temptation for you.

My friend is thinking about all the people in other countries who died for their faith. My friend believes they can’t do that, which is why they believe there is a lack of faith issues. Do you see what they did? They are making an “argument from silence” because they are not in that type of situation where someone is standing over them, asking them to deny their faith or die. My friend’s situation and an objective life-threatening situation are two different things.

There is a difference between someone standing over you and threatening your life and a subjective possibility of dying if “such and such” happen, but aren’t happening now. You could also say, “I have a lack of faith because people die in automobiles, and I may too.” Yes, you could die in a car if you drive recklessly. And you could die from a disease if you live without caution. Those outcomes are possible, but the question remains: is it best to address it from the lack of faith angle or something else that you can change?

What you don’t want to do is create “potential worry” or “future worry,” and then bring it into your current situation. If you do that, you could conclude that you don’t have enough faith for something that is not happening to you right now. Jesus talked about this kind of thinking in Matthew 6:34: “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Anyone can create future possibilities or potential scenarios, and bring them into where they are today and struggle with their faith. Let me give you an example. A young, unmarried teenager says she is afraid of having a baby because of all the pain. She concludes that she does not have enough faith. Do you see what she did? Would the best approach be to address her “lack of faith,” or could you help her another way?

It would be better to discuss things that she could tackle. For example, there is a lack of wisdom in that statement. There is also worry, anxiety, inability to take thoughts captive, not understanding grace when you need it, and God’s sovereign care of our lives. These things that she is struggling with would be an excellent discipleship opportunity so you could address these underlying issues.