Making Covenant Amidst the Pandemic

Permai Snapshot

Issue 49 Jan/Feb 2022

By: Rev. Pung Oa Siong Translated by: Chloe Woo

1 Timothy 4:7-8 (New International Version): Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

In a

letter to Timothy, Paul instructed him to practise godliness because the benefits are greater than those of physical training.

Indeed, we agree with Paul's teaching that Christians should prioritise spiritual life. However, this does not mean that Christians can indulge and neglect their bodies. On the contrary, Christians should value good physical, mental, and emotional health in addition to spiritual health. Our spiritual life and ability to serve God are greatly affected by our physical, emotional, and mental states. Therefore, while emphasising on spiritual practices, we should not neglect our physical, mental and emotional health.

The pandemic has dealt Christians a double blow, disrupting our daily lives and also spiritual practices. Many Christians had been absent from physical worship, cell group meetings, bible studies and prayer meetings for more than two years. We could only conduct the most basic spiritual practices by participating in online activities such as online worship and online gathering.

However, we realised that online worship and online gathering are not ideal long-term replacements of physical worship and gathering, because it is hard for the believers to uphold the discipline and solemnity that they would naturally have in physical worship and gathering.

The online activities are also unable to reflect Christians’ communion and fellowship. Hence, we cannot wait for the pandemic to pass before starting to practise spirituality again. Rather, we should look ahead amidst the pandemic and grow spiritually to get rid of the troubles brought by the pandemic.

As we step into a new year, let us make a covenant with God amidst the pandemic and commit ourselves to the practices listed below:

1. Making a covenant to practise spiritually In the pandemic, our personal devotion becomes the primary way to maintain our relationship with God. We ought to hold on to this traditional and ancient spiritual practice. At the same time, we should consider making a covenant with God and rejoin physical worship and cell group fellowship to continue communal worship and fellowship as a Christian. I also encourage all of you to join the online bible study and prayer altar on Tuesday nights. Besides, the Family, InterGenerational and Faith-Imparting Ministry would be sharing the same platform with the Sunday School. It would be introducing a new model involving parents, which gives parents the main role in passing on their faith to the next generation. I hereby request for parents’ attention and support for this ministry.

2. Making a covenant to practise physical health The current pandemic has exposed the physical conditions of many Malaysians. To date, over 30,000 Malaysians lost their lives to Covid-19, making Malaysia one of the countries with the highest COVID-19 mortality rate. Most of the deceased had underlying chronic diseases. Many Malaysians have high blood pressure, blood glucose and blood lipids, mainly due to the lack of physical exercise and unhealthy diet. I encourage fellow brothers and sisters to make a covenant with God to exercise regularly and reduce intake of unhealthy food (such as high-sugar milk tea and highcalorie food).

3. Making a covenant to practise emotional stability The pandemic and MCO had changed our lifestyles. In the past, we were always kept busy with work or school and hence did not spend much time with our families at home. But now that everyone is stuck at home, we spend more time together and conflicts and arguments naturally

increase. We should learn to manage our emotions and communicate in a forbearing manner, to have a peaceful and loving family environment. I encourage everyone to make a covenant with God to practise good emotional and verbal control.

4. Making a covenant to have good social practices Urbanised lifestyle led to lesser opportunities for us to spend time with our families, friends and brothers and sisters in Christ. The rapid development of social media has exacerbated the gap between people. We are good at communicating with phrases and emojis on social media, and it seems like we are all connecting and socialising. However, when we truly meet in person, communication becomes extremely rare and difficult. It is difficult for us to effectively express our hearts and feelings. Christians need to practise good social skills because it is an essential tool for us to preach the gospel to the people around us and in the community. Church groups and fellowships are great channels to practise social skills and we should make good use of them.

Conclusion: From the experience of pastoring the church, I find that very few Christians would seek help due to dissatisfaction with their spiritual practices. Conversely, the vast majority of Christians seek help because of illnesses, emotional and mental distress, and setbacks in interpersonal relationships.

This shows that Christians must practise good physical, mental and emotional health in addition to spirituality. This also reminds us that

physicality and spirituality cannot be detached from each other in the life of a Christian. Our physical, mental and emotional health will affect the growth of our spiritual life and our capability to serve God. Although we are caught in the pandemic, we ought to renew our covenant with God at the beginning of the new year and commit ourselves to establishing an intimate relationship with Him.

Editor: Ocean Chan ▪ Proofreaders: Deborah Chow, Choo Ting Hou ▪ Designer: Josaphine Tiong Please send articles & feedback to: permaisnapshot@gmail.com Interested to join the editorial team? Scan the ministry QR code or speak to us at 016-3374560