My wife asked me recently why I choose to talk about controversial topics. The reason is based on my motivation for starting my blog. It is both an educational adventure for me and a test to see if I am able to talk about difficult topics in a respectful compassionate manner with no need to trash someone else. I have always hated experiences I observed where we refuse to talk about the elephant in the room, but is it not even worse if we attack the elephant or its caretakers?
Today’s fun topic is how should churches respond to government restrictions placed on their meetings. There have been responses on at least two extremes and many varied responses in between. A couple of very well-known pastors with large ministries have been very public with their responses. I highly respect both of them and have gained growth over the years from both of their ministries.
Disclaimer-as we become more and more aware, government policies and positions of people evolve daily, so please keep that in mind as we walk through this topic. Also, as is stated in my bio–I don’t have an illusion that I am perfect but continue wrestling with life and my choices whether it is following speed limit signs or COVID protocols.
On the one hand you have John MacArthur in southern California whose position is that the government has exceeded its authority and that COVOD-19 is of little danger. He said “I would say to pastors, ‘have church, open up, have church.’ You don’t have to fear someone’s going to die. You don’t have to fear you’re going to get sick, because they’re not going to be able to trace this back. I haven’t seen anything like that anywhere.” He also said “Health mandates and governors orders are not law. I don’t think you have to fear that. You need to open the church because this, of all times, when people fear is where they need to come. I don’t think you have to give a clinical explanation, I think you have to welcome them and not make them follow protocol that you know is pointless.”
On the other hand you have Andy Stanley in Georgia whose position is that the government is doing its best to solve a difficult problem, and that churches aren’t being singled out as the same standards are used for professional sporting events. He announced in July that they would not have in-person church services for at least the rest of 2020. He has said “This was just our way of loving our neighbors and loving our neighborhoods, trying to keep our neighborhoods safe as we get closer to school reopening.”
“So it just seemed like the wisest thing to do as it related to the community and as we wait this thing out and figure out what’s going to happen.”
These different approaches cause me to ask myself a boatload of questions.
- At what point do I decide to not follow governmental guidelines?
- What difference does it make if they are guidelines instead of law?
- What difference does it make if their guidelines don’t appear to me to make sense to me?
- Does it make a difference if they won’t be able to trace it back to the church?
- If we follow the governmental guidelines, aren’t we contributing to social isolation which has a toll on the parishoners?
- Is it more loving to open up services to meet social and spiritual needs or to follow governmental restrictions?
- What about choosing to follow only some of the governmental guidelines?
- How does my choice affect the perception of members, non-members and unbelievers?
- Does that matter?
- Etc.?–feel free to give me more questions.
As this discussion is based on the response of local churches, I plan to appeal to Biblical writings throughout the discussion.
One passage that can’t be absent from this discussion is Acts 5:17-32. This was the beginning of the Christian church after Jesus had gone back to heaven. Peter and the other disciples became very popular both for their “new message” and for the many healings that took place through their ministry. Their popularity became a sore spot for the Jewish religious leaders who were used to a monopoly.
There are a lot of exciting details I will omit here but at the end of the day the leaders said–“We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”
The famous response by Peter and the other apostles was, “We must obey God rather than human beings.”
There is definitely Scriptural basis for the disobedience of government instructions whether it be law–as in the case of Daniel and his companions or with guidelines as in this case just discussed. The big question for me and for each of us is–where do I draw that line of governmental disobedience. Scripture has been used and misused to support many decisions including slavery so the obvious caution is to avoid making it reinforce my position and to seek its teaching instead.
The book of Hebrews is clear that we are to not stop meeting together as some have done and it certainly is plain that we are instructed to sing and participate in worship. If governmental regulations limit those actions, am I free to flaunt their restrictions?
Let’s look at it from a different perspective. Does governmental motive matter? In each case I see in Scripture, it appears to me that the motive of the ruling officials was focused exclusively on stopping believers from doing what believers do–acknowledge only one God, pray to him regularly and tell others of the temporal and eternal good news. If the same action is stopped, does it matter the motive?
Yes, every country, state and governmental entity make tons of different kinds of restrictions making this hard to make a comprehensive statement. But although some Christians claim this is religious persecution, that is not something I have observed. In fact, in Washington state, churches are treated as a special class in that churches are allowed to meet with certain protocols but theaters and attendance at sporting events is banned.
That being said, there are some regulations that can easily be seen as governmental overreach–although it is definitely subjective. I will identify here one regulation with which I violently (figuratively) disagree–the mandate of no congregational singing in church while using masks and social distancing. Isn’t it reasonable if a mask and six feet is sufficient to protect us from a powerful sneeze, the amount of possible contamination from singing in that same context is absent. How do we deal with what are in our perception non-logical regulations?
I would suggest I can sing internally as loud as my “spiritual” lungs will allow, following the governmental prohibition and remembering God is looking at my heart.
I was very surprised to hear one of the pastors listed above express the thought that it is okay to not follow the regulation because they probably won’t be able to trace it back to you. I heard another friend say, the likelihood of litigation in regards to this disobedience of the guidelines is very small, and the likelihood of a conviction is next to impossible. Those both sound a lot like–if you don’t get caught, don’t worry about it. I was taught growing up and tried to instill in our kids the philosophy that while a fine or jail time might be a hedge to prevent us from breaking a law, if it is our only deterrent, we can find many ways to bend the rules–all just to make our lives more enjoyable–and where does that stop?
One of the best pieces of advice I heard from a pastor was–Don’t pray for the hand of God to bless you on what you started with the arm of the flesh. This has stopped me cold various times in trying to avoid such things as building permits etc.
One of the logical fallacies I mentioned when I started this blog was that of the false dilemma or false dichotomy. When we respond to governmental guidance regarding COVID thinking that we either do what we have always done or we are not following God, can be such a fallacy. That thought process prevents us from looking for creative solutions. No, Zoom and Youtube are not the same as being together in person, but who would have thought a year ago we would have such great options. My wife and I have been a part of a small group–most of us are senior citizens and many have felt very isolated. Using the Zoom technology, we have begun meeting again and the response from the participants has been extremely positive.
I am sure there are many creative ideas we never would have taken the time to think of, were it not for the current restrictions.
While we have talked above about reasoning for disobeying the government, it seems to me that the main focus of scripture as it relates to the citizenry and their response to the government, it is one of honor, respect and obedience. Romans 13 actually says–“whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted”.
Based on Scripture, Christians should be model citizens which is why it kills me that rioters in DC this past week sported such symbols as the Bible, “Jesus Saves” and “Jesus 2020”.
Romans tells us to not let the world shape us into its mold. We are to be different–but different in a good way. I remember a pastor once saying–if you are suffering, before you assume it is suffering for Christ, make sure you aren’t suffering for being a jerk.
I personally believe most governments are doing the best they know how to do to deal with the current pandemic. But just like us, they are flawed and sometimes make stupid, illogical (from my perspective) decisions.
If Christians are viewed by the world as being those who are fighting against masks and other COVID protocols, does that benefit the cause of Christ? I am aware of a couple of churches who were attempting to modify their in-house rules as to how they were dealing with COVID, which was in conflict to the government’s guidelines. The response in both cases was applause from the audience–which kind of sounded like–“in your face, government”. I was appreciative that one of those pastors stopped the applause indicating that was not their purpose.
In conclusion, a friend shared his perspective with me that this might be an opportunity for a Romans 14 moment. That chapter talks about a lot of external practices and how different followers of Christ view them from opposite extremes. On both extremes, the believers think they are doing what God wants. The instruction is for us to not look down on those who see it and act differently from us. It is so easy for us to “be offended” by the choices, words, and beliefs of someone else. Let’s instead extend to them the same grace God freely gives to us.
A final quote from the great theologian Augustine–“A Christian is: a mind through which Christ thinks, a heart through which Christ loves, a voice through which Christ speaks, and a hand through which Christ helps.