Coronavirus: Stop Joking About COVID-19!

https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/coronavirus-stop-joking-about-covid-19/

Truly, it is a sad reflection of our faith when certain misguided Christians think it is okay to joke about the coronavirus pandemic. Yet sadly, as I have learned in recent days, that is exactly what some of them have been doing. Some of you will already know what I am talking about. But for those of you who don’t, let me tell you. Not too long ago, I came across a post on the timeline of one of my Facebook friends. This distasteful post was making a joke out of the coronavirus infection, and stated the following:

—– Begin Quote —–

“Stuck in line at Walmart. I coughed and said, “This cough has gotten worse since I got back from China!” Boom! No line.”

—– End Quote —–

Friends, I could not believe my eyes. I could not believe that a God-fearing, Bible-believing Christian would post such a sick joke on their timeline. I could not believe that they could make fun of, and take so lightly, the suffering of others. Equally tragic was the fact that other people were liking the post and laughing about it as well.

Over the next few days, I encountered a few more posts where people were cracking jokes about the coronavirus. Finally, I had enough of it. So, I posted a personal response on my timeline where I registered my disapproval, and in fact rebuked those people — meaning other Christians — who were doing this reprehensible thing.

Well, on about March 8th, while scrolling through my Facebook news feed, I came across the very same “joke” again on another friend’s timeline. While this was a new version of the original post, the text in the image was exactly the same as what I shared with you above. As some of you may already know, God’s Word tells us the following:

“Open rebuke is better than secret love.”
Proverbs 27:5, KJV

“Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.”
1 Timothy 5:20, KJV

So, once again, as I had done with the original post a few days earlier, I began calling out the person who had made the post, as well as his friends who were liking the post and laughing about it, and even sharing it on their own timelines. In fact, as I write this current blog commentary, this disgusting “joke” has received thirty-four likes or laughs, and it has been shared four times from the aforementioned person’s timeline.

As should be clear to you by now, contrary to everyone else, I did NOT find the post funny. In fact, as I told those people in my rebuke, I found the “joke” to be totally inappropriate. I think it is being very insensitive to the suffering of others, and in my view, it most definitely does NOT convey a Christian attitude. The fact is that our standard of behavior is supposed to be based on God’s Word. As I asked those people, “Would Jesus or His First Century followers react in such a way to human suffering? Would they joke about it?”

Well, believe it or not, but once I began to express my opinion regarding the matter, some of the other folks in that comment thread began to try to justify their misguided behavior by making comments such as the following ones. These were made by four different people:

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“Sometimes we just need a good laugh. No intention of hurting others. Some [people] can be too serious.”

“Bill do you have any posts about judging others?”

“Humor is the best way to assuage the fears of the unknown.”

“To each his own.”

—– End Quotes —–

I’m sorry, but in my view, there is simply no way to justify that kind of behavior coming from a Christian who is supposed to demonstrate compassion towards those who suffer, and not joke about it. As I told them, perhaps if some of them had members of their own families who were suffering from and dying from COVID-19, maybe they would not be so quick to joke about it. I also reminded them of what Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew:

“But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”
Matthew 12:36-37, KJV

Well, the person who made the original post said that he was sorry that I was offended by his post. Even he did not seem to grasp the real issue that I had with the so-called “joke”. So, as I told him, I was not the least bit offended. Rather, I was APPALLED that some of my Christian brethren could be so insensitive to the Spirit, that they not only couldn’t see anything wrong with joking about a human tragedy which has already taken the lives of thousands of people, but that they even went so far as to try to justify their wayward behavior. That was the real issue for me.

As I shared the above thoughts with my friend, I was reminded of the following verses which were written by the Apostle Paul:

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;”
1 Timothy 4:1-2, KJV

As I explain in a few of my articles, it is my belief that when Paul writes “having their conscience seared with a hot iron”, he is referring to the practice of cauterization. For those of you who may not be familiar with this practice, this is a process whereby a heated instrument or caustic substance is used to burn the flesh, in order to stop the bleeding, or to prevent a wound from becoming infected.

However, as a result of doing this, not only does the flesh become scarred, but quite often, that area of the flesh also becomes numb, because the nerve endings have been destroyed. In other words, people lose feeling in that area of their body. Thus we see that Paul appears to be saying that people become numb to — or past feeling — the conviction of God’s Spirit working in their lives; particularly when He is dealing with them regarding some personal weakness or sin.

Do you understand what I am saying here? If not, let me explain. I was trying to correct these brethren regarding their rather unchristian attitude, yet they could not even see that they were doing something wrong. They appeared to be numb to the conviction of God’s Spirit. They didn’t want to receive correction and were trying to blow it off. In fact, as I said earlier, they even tried to justify their actions by saying that I was simply being too serious, and that I shouldn’t be judging them.

Furthermore, when I went back to the same thread later, I discovered that the person who had posted the sick joke had deleted my previous response to him. When I questioned him about it, he responded by asking me if I had any posts regarding the topic of judging others. In other words, he was not asking me with sincerity. Rather, he was being sarcastic and indirectly saying “Bill, you shouldn’t be judging us.” In response, I shared the URL for the following article with him and encouraged him to read it, knowing full well how he would react:

Exposing the “Judge Not” Fallacy

Of course, I already knew where the conversation was headed. People like that are so predictable. So after waiting for a few minutes for him to respond to my last comment, and receiving no notification of a response from him, I went back to his timeline. Well, at least I tried to. I in fact discovered that he had blocked me. I wasn’t surprised. As Jesus said in the Gospel of John:

“If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.”
John 15:22, KJV

So friends, rather than receive what I had to say, that man — and his friends — rejected it. They didn’t want the truth. They didn’t want someone telling them that they were in the wrong for joking about the coronavirus. So, they had to silence me, by blocking me. How many times have we seen this happen when we try to share the truth with someone? I know that I am not alone in this. Some of you have experienced it as well. But it is truly sad when even our own Christian brethren harden their hearts against the truth and reject us. Imagine how Jesus must have felt:

“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”
Isaiah 53:3, KJV

In conclusion, please do not joke about the coronavirus on the social networks. I do not believe that such behavior is pleasing to the Lord. Many thousands of people are suffering and dying from this pandemic, and it should not be taken lightly. It is no laughing matter.

For those of you who may have possibly missed some of my previous coronavirus-related writings, following is a list of everything I have written to date regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. I believe that you will find a lot of useful, factual, instructive and Scriptural information in this material. Please feel free to share this list on your own timelines, pages, in your Facebook groups, and on any other social networks where you happen to participate. Thank you so very much, and God bless you!

Bill’s Bible Basics Coronavirus Information Center:

Bill’s Bible Basics Coronavirus Information Center

Bill’s Bible Basics Articles:

BBB Article: “Coronavirus: Just the Facts, Ma’am”:

https://www.billkochman.com/Articles/coronavirus-1.html

BBB Article: “COVID-19, Financial Assistance and Christian Love”:

https://www.billkochman.com/Articles/covid-19-financial-assistance-christian-love-1.html

BBB Article: “Coronavirus: Defiant Christians, Stay Home!”:

https://www.billkochman.com/Articles/coronavirus-defiant-christians-stay-home-1.html

BBB Article: “COVID-19: Exposure Logging and Contact Tracing: Is It Safe?”:

https://www.billkochman.com/Articles/COVID-19-ExposureLogging-ContactTracing-1.html

Bill’s Bible Basics Blog Posts: