Evangelical Response to the Coronavirus Lockdown

The coronavirus disease has unexpectedly blindsided the whole world within a very short period of time. It has been shocking to see self-assured, developed western nations, even worst hit than Africa, reeling in social, economic and religious confusion in the aftermath of this globally indiscriminate disease. It is therefore very encouraging to see the remarkable work rising to the occasion out of Africa to help people come to terms with the disruption brought to humanity by this disease. This book is a high-quality, timely response prepared from the perspective of one Evangelical tradition, ECWA, set within the broader context of Nigeria and the mission of the church in Africa, generally. Indeed, Babatomiwa’s approach shows that the coronavirus has, not so much introduced new problems; rather, the disease has opened up wounds and scars we never bothered to heal properly.

The book goes into remarkable depth to highlight such things as the church's response to disease throughout history. Did you know that whenever epidemics occurred, Christians would be at the forefront of infection and contagion caring for the sick, even to the cost of their own lives? Babatomiwa opines that the church has always been part of the solution by offering unconditional love, sacrificial care, hope and brave witness. Even now in the year of our Lord 2020, the call of the deep unto deep is no different, and the fastest growing church in the world, the African church, cannot fail the test at this moment. Moses leads us to realize that the church has its God-given responsibility to maintain the spiritual nurture of its members and at the same time, extend itself to meet new challenges that it was not prepared for. As the missiologist David Bosch observes in his book, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission (1991) by using Hendrik Kraemer’s words, ‘. . . the church is always in a . . . crisis, and . . . its greatest shortcoming is that it is only occasionally aware of it.’ Bosch continues quoting Kramer adding, the church ‘has always needed . . . suffering in order to become fully alive to its real nature and mission.’ Well, the suffering is here, and Brother Moses invites us, the church, to be aware of both contingency and crisis and to respond as a community committed to partnering with its Lord, to heal the broken-hearted, to bind up the wounded and continue to bring good news of the kingdom.

This is not just a book about the coronavirus. The work takes unexpected angles that reveal both the pastoral heart and scholarly mind of the author. He does a rounded exposition of evangelicalism and its relationship to Pentecostalism, particularly in its Nigerian expressions. There are dimensions of the contemporary circumstances of the church in Africa, both within the ecclesial circles and in the public sphere, that have been addressed by other scholars in whose footsteps Moses walks. The work has the potential to refresh conversations on stale debates in scholarship, matters such as prosperity theology, unhealthy denominationalism and ecumenism. I particularly like how Moses starts to point us towards revisiting the idea of Pan-Africanism, particularly as it might be expressed in the east African ideal of ubuntu, which itself invites us all to sit in and have a village palaver to eat together and listen to each other. Perchance, we might rediscover that in unity, we will be able to surmount the jaded image and content with which our mother continent is held abroad.

I invite you to join Brother Babatomiwa Moses Owojaiye as he sees this deadly challenge of COVID-19 as an opportunity to introspect on long-term, deep-seated issues that the church in Africa needs to face up to. Together, we can address them so we can pursue long-term missional impact, even in our continuously changing and dizzying world. May the Lord bless these "five loaves of bread and two fish" (Matthew 14:17, NIV) into a meal to feed thousands with knowledge and wisdom on how to act in these disruptive times.