All over the world today people are facing the same enemy, Covid-19. This tiny virus has caused a huge commotion. Businesses have closed. Schools have shut their doors. Entire nations have declared a quarantine in an effort to limit the spread of the virus. I’m sure in the near and distant future we will look back on this time as a significant historical marker.

During this process stores are limiting their hours of operation or closing all together. Weary shoppers have modified their shopping lists as aisles of basic household items have been rendered empty. Cities, states, and municipalities of all kinds have debated to determine what types of businesses could legally remain open and what types must close for the safety of the population. Schools have had to determine which subjects and assignments must be delivered at all costs and which subjects could wait for another time.

We have all been asking, “What are the Essentials?”

This word, ESSENTIAL, has come up over and over in conversations spanning from toilet paper to banks to healthcare to entertainment to church. Cities have asked themselves, “Is it essential for churches to gather in person?” “Is it essential for children to have school lessons at a school building?” “Is it essential for people to be able to order a latte through a drive-up window?”

For us as people of faith in Jesus, our lives beg the same question:

What are the essentials of our faith?

Is it essential that we believe in Jesus? Is it essential that we distance ourselves from others? Is it essential that we pay our tithes and/or our bills? Is it essential that we visit our loved ones? Is it essential that we read the Bible? Is it essential that protect ourselves?

This season of virus has challenged our ideas and our ideology in so many different ways. Churches around the world have closed their Sunday morning doors to in-person attendance, many of which have moved into the living rooms of homes reaching a wider audience. Times of musical worship have turned down the volume and turned off the lights over the stage and moved to the digital screen inviting moms and dads and kids to sing in the comfort of their own homes. Bible studies have moved out of the coffee shops and fellowship halls and landed on the middle of the family dining room table. T.D. Jakes said, “The church experience has moved into the home.”

I wonder, as we reevaluate what church and faith look like, if we can identify what is truly essential in our walk with The Lord now, and going forward.

Here’s a few essentials that I think should make the list.

Time With Jesus is Essential

'The Master said, “Martha, dear Martha, you’re fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it—it’s the main course, and won’t be taken from her.”’ Luke 10:41-42 MSG

Martha spent her time busy hosting the guests while Mary sat at Jesus’ feet. Listening. Soaking in His presence. Delighting in His stories and the sweet sound of His voice. I wonder if over time we’ve become so busy “doing church” that we’ve forgotten how to enjoy our Savior’s presence.

During this time of social distancing, I’ve noticed parts of the world moving at a much slower pace. It feels weird. It feels different than the steady, speedy pace that I’m used to. Racing from meeting to meeting in between picking up groceries and dropping my son off at his next event. Today there’s a little more margin of time in my life. I have a choice to fill that time with a podcast or a book or binge-watch the next great show online OR I can choose to sit in my savior’s presence. I can choose to listen to Him and delight in His presence. I can choose to be still and remember that He alone is my God and the God of this whole world.

As an adult man, I, at times, miss the comfort of being a child in the safety of my father’s arms. I cherish the moments that I can sit and hold my son. Maybe we would all do well to sit in our Heavenly Father’s arms one more time, everyday. Time with Jesus is Essential.

Prayer is Essential

'Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.’ - Ephesians 6:13-18 MSG

Especially now it is important to remember that we are first of all spirit beings. The language of the spirit is prayer. Prayer is more than resting in Jesus’ presence. Prayer is also declaring things that are not yet, into being. Prayer is conducting Kingdom business in a Heavenly courtroom or Heavenly boardroom or Heavenly war-room. Prayer is waging war against anything and everything that exalts itself against the name or authority of Jesus. Prayer is a covering over your family, friends, partners, congregational members and all who would find themselves in your life. Prayer is exercising the authority that has been entrusted to us to establish the Kingdom of God in our lives and all over this earth.

In prayer you can support a missionary. In prayer you can help your church. In prayer you can change your community. In prayer you can honor your political leaders. In prayer you can embolden your pastor. In prayer you can guide your children. In prayer you can love and respect your spouse. In prayer you can change nations, heal sickness, cast out demons and declare the Good News of Jesus.

Our gracious Heavenly Father, through the blood of Jesus, has opened a door of communication and actualization of our faith far beyond what we comprehend. It is time for us to more fully walk through this open door and pray.

I believe that as a people we have lifted up so many words. Words of curses and profanity. Words of bitterness and envy. Words of criticism and strife. Today, let us all around the world lift up new words. Words of humility and repentance. Words of encouragement and grace. Words of hope and healing. Today let us lift up words of prayer. Prayer is Essential.

Holiness is Essential

'Since everything here today might well be gone tomorrow, do you see how essential it is to live a holy life? Daily expect the Day of God, eager for its arrival. The galaxies will burn up and the elements melt down that day—but we’ll hardly notice. We’ll be looking the other way, ready for the promised new heavens and the promised new earth, all landscaped with righteousness.’ 2 Peter 3:11-13 MSG

As Covid-19 has spread rapidly around the globe we have been given a consistent message of actions to take to be safe and prevent spreading this virus: go home and wash your hands. That’s good advise not only for cleansing ourselves of this contaminant, but also of cleansing ourselves of the contaminants of sin that may exist in our lives.

Each one of us can head this advice in our souls: go home; wash your hands. Return to the place of salvation. Return to the Cross. Come back to a broken and contrite spirit that hates sin and weeps in remorse and repentance over its existence in our lives. Many people in this world have walked away from their childhood faith in Jesus. Many were brought up to know the truth, but, like the prodigal son, have left home. Many have gone in search of a different solution or answer or provider. Many have sought after pleasures of this world that may entice for a moment. It’s time to come home. It’s time to return to the faith you learned about as a child. It’s time to remember the timeless truth that even if you were the only one, Jesus still would have died for you.

On our journeys away from home many of us have gotten our hands dirty. We’ve dug around in the earth and have covered our hands with the filth that this world has to offer. We’ve tricked and lied and betrayed and cheated our way to a destination. Now our hands are contaminated. Fortunately The Lord is waiting for us at home with a big bottle of soap called The Blood of Jesus. With His own life He can make us clean again. As we come home and repent, He can wash our hands.

Go home. Wash your hands. Holiness is Essential.

Grit is Essential

'“Now here’s a surprise: The master praised the crooked manager! And why? Because he knew how to look after himself. Streetwise people are smarter in this regard than law-abiding citizens. They are on constant alert, looking for angles, surviving by their wits. I want you to be smart in the same way—but for what is right —using every adversity to stimulate you to creative survival, to concentrate your attention on the bare essentials, so you’ll live, really live, and not complacently just get by on good behavior.”’ Luke 16:8-8 MSG

Experts say that the number one determining factor for survival in a life threatening emergency is a strong will to live. A determination to do what ever it takes to come out alive. Resolve. Perseverance. Grit. In the days to come we’re all going to need a little more grit. A little more determination that no matter what the world may throw at us, we will survive. We will thrive. And we will establish the Kingdom of God in our own lives and on this earth.

With adversity comes the necessity for new and creative ideas. We must be willing to master new skills that seem so foreign to us. There are ways to share of the Good News of Jesus that we have never thought of. And when these new methods are presented to us, we won’t really like them. They’ll seem like a violation or abandonment of our traditions. How important it is that we develop a spine and some grit to learn some new methods. To embrace new ideas. Ideas that do not violate our faith, even if they challenge the core of our comfort zones and previously adopted best practices. The world is ever changing. Grit is Essential.

Hard Work is Essential

'Repeat these basic essentials over and over to God’s people. Warn them before God against pious nitpicking, which chips away at the faith. It just wears everyone out. Concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won’t be ashamed of, laying out the truth plain and simple. Stay clear of pious talk that is only talk. Words are not mere words, you know. If they’re not backed by a godly life, they accumulate as poison in the soul. Hymenaeus and Philetus are examples, throwing believers off stride and missing the truth by a mile by saying the resurrection is over and done with.’ 2 Timothy 2:14-18 MSG

Have you ever worked on a construction site? Ever handled a drill or operated a saw for hours on end? Have you ever swung a sledge hammer or dug a ditch with a shovel? Probably most of us have not. It looks like very hard work. Why would we think that building the Kingdom of God would be easy? Oh the Lord’s yoke is easy and His burden is light. Yet He also calls us to put away pious nitpicking and get involved in some hard work. He calls us to offer our best to Him in such a way that we would be proud if He were our boss and He showed up for a surprise inspection.

I’m not implying that Christians are lazy. I’m saying that there is a time to roll up our sleeves and get busy caring for the hurting people of this world; and now is that time. Now is not the time to come up with one more preaching opportunity unless it is equally or doubly matched by serving opportunities.

How can we serve from a distance, you ask?

We can give. Find those who are in the middle of the hard work and give to them.
Micro is the new macro. If we can’t gather in large groups, then visit someone, one-on-one and serve them.
Pick up the phone. Our mobile devices do so much that I sometimes forget that its first of all a telephone. With just a few taps on the screen I can “be” with a friend many miles away.
Volunteer. Churches, non-profits, ministries, missions, hospitals all need people who can do various functions. Ask around. Find a place to serve.

Don’t forget that one day in the near future all the social distancing will end. The opportunities to serve one another will be endless. Hard Work is Essential.

Unity is Essential

'I want you to put your foot down. Take a firm stand on these matters so that those who have put their trust in God will concentrate on the essentials that are good for everyone. Stay away from mindless, pointless quarreling over genealogies and fine print in the law code. That gets you nowhere. Warn a quarrelsome person once or twice, but then be done with him. It’s obvious that such a person is out of line, rebellious against God. By persisting in divisiveness he cuts himself off.’ Titus 3:8-11 MSG

I believe that over time God has used various church denominations to highlight different aspects of Himself. Most Christian denominations agree that Jesus is the Savior of the world. Then, it seems, that each denomination, and even specific congregations whether in a denomination or independent, focus on certain aspects of God’s nature. I believe we can learn from one another. One group may have a more clear understanding of repentance and salvation. Another group may have a better grasp of the workings of the Holy Spirit. Yet another may have more knowledge of worship or liturgy or church government or confession. When these doctrines prevent us from listening and learning from one another we are persisting in divisiveness and cutting ourselves off from the whole body.

It is our love for one another that will show that world that we belong to Jesus. Each one of us can lay aside our tenets for a few moments to gather with other believers who may view Jesus from a different perspective. I’m not advocating situational ethics or subjective truth. I’m simply saying that we each may not know all truth absolutely. We each may need to listen to another point of view. We each may need to build allies instead of enemies. Unity is Essential.

The Word of God is Essential

'So don’t turn a deaf ear to these gracious words. If those who ignored earthly warnings didn’t get away with it, what will happen to us if we turn our backs on heavenly warnings? His voice that time shook the earth to its foundations; this time—he’s told us this quite plainly—he’ll also rock the heavens: “One last shaking, from top to bottom, stem to stern.” The phrase “one last shaking” means a thorough housecleaning, getting rid of all the historical and religious junk so that the unshakable essentials stand clear and uncluttered.’ Hebrews 12:25-27 MSG

So many voices. So many messages. So much information. So much news. It’s overwhelming. Who could hear it all? Not me. And not you. So why try to hear it all. The louder the wind, the harder it is to hear the rustling leaves.

There is a singular voice to which we must keep our ears tuned. There is a singular message that we must pin to the top of the page. There is a singular text that we must review in the morning and the evening. We must listen to the Word of God.

Fortunately the Lord has written His words down for us in the Bible. First and foremost we must begin with what He has given us. His word, The Bible, must be the basis of all truth in our lives. Science is subject to the Bible. Economics is subject to the Bible. Our health is subject to the Bible. Our families are subject to the Bible. The future outlook of the world is subject to the Bible. First the Bible, then …

I believe that in this year, 2020, there will be a great many proclamations from the Lord through His people. There will be fulfillment of prophecy and new prophetic messages given. This is the year of declaration. Together there will be a mighty declaration of the rule and reign of Jesus around the world. Please remember that no word of prophecy or declaration will ever contradict the written Word of God in the Bible. Read His Written Word. Listen to His Spoken Word. The Word of God is Essential.

You are essential

Your life matters. During a time when so much of life is in flux the world’s shelves may seem empty. It might feel like we don’t know where to go or what to bring into our lives. We may question what tomorrow will hold so we feel uncertain how to prepare. Here’s a few essentials. Jesus’ Presence. Prayer. Holiness. Grit. Hard Work. Unity. The Word of God. And finally, you. You are essential. Your life matters. So fill your life with these essentials and go save the world.