“And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
Esther 4:14 (NIV)
What would you do if your country was on the verge of war?
Flee to safety or stay?
On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine and this question became a reality for the people of Ukraine. In the article titled To Stay and Serve: Why We Didn’t Flee Ukraine (https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/church-stayed-ukraine/), Ukrainian pastor Vasyl Ostryi shares about his church’s decision to stay despite the war. I encourage you to take a read of the article and then consider the following question for the Body of Christ (personally and collectively): what should the Church’s role be when we are confronted with crises in our own countries, in our own communities, in our own backyards?
Pastor Vasyl Ostryi starts the article off by comparing the signs of impending war to events described in the book of Esther, where an evil and relentless Haman sought to eradicate the Jewish nation. Esther, a young Jewish woman, was timely placed in a royal position to help facilitate the salvation of her people who were on the brink of extinction. This verse sums up Esther’s role and the focus of this biblical book: Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14 NLT). Esther realized that her life and the position of authority she had been placed in, was not a fluke but a divine appointment by God to help the Jewish people.
Like Esther, each of us have the opportunity today to support and impact for the good of the communities we live in. Pastor Ostryi and other Christians made the choice to stay and support their community despite the danger that lurked ahead. Like Esther, they put aside themselves to care for the welfare of others in their community in the midst of a crisis.
So what is the role of the church during a time of crisis? That could be answered many different ways. Pastor Ostryi made a poignant statement in the article for the Christian church to consider when he posed questions about the role of the church:
“How should the church respond when there is a growing threat of war? When there is a constant fear in society? I’m convinced that if the church is not relevant at a time of crisis, then it is not relevant in a time of peace.”
According to the online dictionary Oxford Languages, relevant is an adjective that describes how something or someone is closely connected or appropriate to what is being done or considered. Therefore based on Ostryi’s statement above, the church should be closely connected and appropriate in response to what is occurring in their community, especially at a time of crisis.
What crisis is happening in your country, your community, your backyard that you and your local Church can be actively involved in and be the hands and feet of Christ? It might be youth on youth violence, disparity in education, poverty, homelessness, hunger, unemployment, breakdown of the family, the need for more foster parents, child abuse, and the list goes on and on. A crisis is not far from any of us and the Church has multiple opportunities to play a role; that is individual followers of Jesus and the local Christian church bodies collectively.
If you were to evaluate the current role of your local church body, which of the following would best describe it:
- An active partner in the community that steps up and immerses itself in the lives and needs of the people
OR
- A silent dweller that is disengaged with the community it resides in.
The Church, like Esther, has been placed in its various locations for such times as these. God has given us resources (such as money, property, buildings, people, skills, gifts, etc.) for us to use where He has divinely put us in this season to support and impact for the good of our communities. We are to embody Jesus Christ who “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28 NIV).
Pastor Ostryi and the church used what God had given them to serve and support their Ukrainian community: provided first aid training for their parishioners in the event they needed to care for wounded neighbors; the church property was prepped to become a shelter or a military hospital; response teams were created to disseminate supplies of food, fuel and first aid needs when the time came; lists were compiled of parishioners who were doctors, mechanics, plumbers in case their services were needed.
What vision and purpose this church had for such a time, as their enemy came to steal, kill and destroy. We also have an enemy seeking to kill, steal and destroy in our own communities (John 10:10). Pastor Ostryi and the Ukrainian church exemplifies the type of response the church can have in a time of crisis: “We will shelter the weak, serve the suffering and mend the broken. How can you and your local church body do the same?
Considerations 