A message from Rico Tice on coronavirus and the loss of idols 

As ever yesterday I was trying to finish my morning Bible reading on the subway. Sadly in this secular society, contrary to the call of Jesus in Mark 8:38 to not be “ashamed of me or my words”, I always feel a little embarrassed to get the Bible out and be reading it in public. Well, not yesterday, not in the middle of the coronavirus outbreak. The new confidence I felt was pretty overwhelming. 

How this pandemic has taken us back to basics! There are so many ways of interpreting what’s going on but surely one is that our idols have been taken from us, so that we have to focus on our souls. So many good things that had become God things have been removed: major sports events and championships, meeting in cafes and restaurants for meals, the health and the gyms that we take for granted, economic prosperity.

All these gifts: sport, health, prosperity, family have been treated as givens. Well, no longer. And our prayer is that like the Prodigal Son in the midst of a famine our friends, loved ones, colleagues and relations will “come to their senses” (Luke 15:17), and will say to themselves, “How could I have been so blind and ungrateful?”

But here is the issue, in the midst of this crisis we have to keep praying that we and others will keep making the move from seeing ourselves as victims to realising that we are primarily rebels. That is why Jesus had to come and die, because we have constantly treated his gifts as givens. 

The question is will we come to our senses and allow this pandemic to reveal our idolatry to us?

Read here for some ideas for how you can keep reaching out to others with the gospel in these trying times. As ever, please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Rico Tice
Evangelist