“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)
We hear a lot today about a new normal (which doesn’t really feel normal at all). Our lives have been turned upside down and then some. Graduates are looking at screens instead of an auditorium filled with family and friends. Businesses are scratching their heads trying to figure out how to bring in any kind of income. Parents have become teachers and teachers find themselves trying to teach while parenting their own children. Now when we see a TV show depicting a large crowd a voice insides us yells, “Move six feet apart!” Even when things begin to get back to normal, will it be the same ol’ normal we were used too?
As Christians we are actually called to a new normal. Paul tells the Corinthian church that if we are in Christ (in other words if we claim to be a Christian) we are new creatures. What was normal, or a part of the old life has passed away and it’s not coming back, the new is here. In other words you can’t be a Christian and continue to live the old normal, there has to be a new normal. Even when the virus has subsided we won’t look at life quite the same way. Just going to a restaurant or out to a movie won’t be taken for granted. And when we are sick with a cold or the flu we might be more mindful of how easy it is to make others sick. And though we may be a little standoffish for a while, hugs will definitely not be thought of the same (I for one can’t wait. I’m way behind on the hugs needed for good mental health).
Taking on the nature and person of Jesus also means some changes. I need to look at love and forgiveness in a different light, the light from a man hanging on a cross. I need to find patience for and understanding in the things and people that drive me crazy. After all Jesus did all that for me, and he is the one setting the normal for my life now (not me).
Things will be different after the virus is dealt with, and not all for the bad. Jesus wants to make me a new creature, one that is definitely better than the person he found when he saved me. Here’s to the new normal.
Don
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