The disciples were a nice bunch of guys who would hang on Jesus’ every word yet didn’t seem to hear a word He said. The Romans treated these Jesus followers like a localized religious infection that gave them a bit of a rash but which could be cured by a generous slathering of crucifixion cream. However, at Pentecost, everything changed. Tongues of fire made the disciples feverish and started a pandemic which would infect the entire empire. The Roman Center for Religious Disease Control was unprepared for its spread because once it went airborne it became an epidemic of global proportions.

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2: 1-4)

Jesus had already warned them that once it got into the air they would see its effects but be unable to contain it.

 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3: 5-8)

Caiaphas, the most prestigious Jewish epidemiologist of the time recognized the danger and felt it was better to kill the index case than let the whole nation perish.

But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” (John 11: 49-50)

However, his institutional disease containment plan blinded him to basic agrarian wisdom and he looked on in horror as the dead Seed became a 100-fold crop ripe for harvest.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. (John 12: 24)

Christianity not only went viral but became airborne and spread from Judea to Samaria to the ends of the Earth.

The famous atheist Richard Dawkins compares religion to a deadly virus.

“It is fashionable to wax apocalyptic about the threat to humanity posed by the AIDS virus, ‘mad cow’ disease, and many others but I think a case can be made that faith is one of the world’s great evils, comparable to the smallpox virus but harder to eradicate.” (Richard Dawkins)

Richard correctly identifies Christianity as a viral movement but mistakenly considers it deadly. Fearing a religion virus that will lead to brain death, he neglects to consider its ability to renew the mind. Richard continues to warn everybody about the danger of this mind virus, but sadly ends up looking more like a religious hypochondriac in an intellectual Haz-Mat suit. While he continues to meticulously filter the air around him, the vast majority of humans seem to think it is healthier to step outside and take a deep spiritual breath.

Photo by Dawid Zawiła on Unsplash