In Response to COVID-19

Introduction

Many individuals, families, pastors, and governments are struggling to respond properly to Covid-19 and all its effects–economic, political, social, and otherwise. This is a time that Christians in particular must pay close attention to the way we respond–in our words and actions–toward each other, toward the world, and toward our governing authorities. I plan to touch on all three.

An Observation of Scripture

Most churches’ statements and updates regarding the Covid-19 issue has gone something like this: “Due to the government’s so-called ‘ban’ on gathering together as the body of Christ to partake of the sacraments together which were instituted by God in remembrance of Him who bore our sins, we are disregarding the declaration of the Governor in order to obey the existing authorities, and in doing so, we obey the Lord. This being said, we will be holding our gathering service and our sacraments this, and every Sunday until further notice, in our parking lot, in our cars so as to keep our elderly, nursing mothers, and other vulnerable congregants safe from this virus that has swept through our city.”

… But that’s not what we’ve been hearing from our pastors and elders at all, is it? On the contrary. Most responses from the pastors and churches in my local area, and probably yours as well, have been to point to Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 as justification for suspending all corporate worship, and no, sitting at home in your chonies, watching on your computer as your worship pastor sings and your teaching pastor teaches from an empty sanctuary doesn’t pass as “corporate worship.” As Christians, the most important thing that we do on a weekly basis is to come before God as the body of Christ and glorify Him together on the Lord’s Day. It is one of the highest acts of obedience, and greatest sources for sanctification that believers have been graced with, and it ought to be treated as such (Heb. 10:25).

Responding to One Another

Hebrews 10:25 is a command of the Church to gather together locally with one another, to exhort each other toward the image of Christ, of whom we are many members of His body. The goal of this is found in Ephesians 2: The gathering of the saints, who have been gifted by the Spirit for specific functions is “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 2:12-13). Meeting together is necessary and purposed by God for the sanctification of the saints, whom otherwise would have no one to confess to, no one to exhort, no one to correct, pray for, encourage, rebuke, or build up by the training up into righteousness for good works (Heb. 10:25; James 5:16; 1 Thess. 5:11; 2 Tim. 3:16).

In light of the unfortunate state of most local church bodies: call your friends from church. Pray with them. Exhort them. Teach them. If you are willing to meet with them, host a bible study at your home, so as to encourage the saints in your sphere. Though it may not be the gathering of the local body on the Lord’s Day, it is at least an attempt at obedience when your elders have decided to suspend corporate gathering.

If the obedience comment above just caused you to wince, hang on–I’m getting to that.

Responding to the World

During the Covid situation, we have seen an untold number of media, lobbyists, movements like never-Trumpers and antifa, etc. use the virus as means for their personal or corporate gain. Media have used it to smear the President from an economic standpoint, blaming the administration of the economic downturn of the Covid-19 situation while, out of the other half of their face, accusing him of not following CDC/DOH guidelines–decisions that are, economically speaking, mutually exclusive. Similarly, after accosting the President for his lack of safety on the Coronavirus issue, Lobbying groups (and, I’ll only refer to them as a lobbying group here because I want to include other lobbying organization that have done similar things in the current cultural/political climate) like Black Lives Matter, have turned around only to repent of their barrage against Trump by amassing themselves in the streets to burn down their own cities.

All of this, for the Christian, is only evidence that the world is dead in transgression and sin (Eph. 2:1-3). When men use the sins of others to justify their own, such as we have seen in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, is only a testament to the Noetic effects on their mind in that they have rejected God in their thinking and their foolish hearts have darkened (Rom. 1:18-22). The Christian response should overwhelmingly be this: to view the current situation of abounding sinfulness as a time for revival in our nation. Revival is only possible when dead men are made alive–this is accomplished only through the gospel of Jesus Christ who died so that dead men could die to themselves and be raised to life in Him. So, Christian, preach the Word–for there is a time for everything under the sun, and this is the time for preaching.

I want to make this one clarification: When I use the word “gospel,” I don’t mean Leftist Wokeism–the woke gospel is dead in its trespasses and sins. Christ was sent to purchase one people for Himself from all the nations on earth, and if you subscribe to the kind of tribalistic mentality that the world is peddling, as though it contains within itself some form of reconciliation, then you need this correction: Jesus Christ came and tore down the wall of partition between God’s chosen people and you. Jesus Christ came to save sinners like you, who were once of the descendants of Adam, standing condemned before God, who are now descendants of Abraham through the promise of faith, who now stand justified before both the just and justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Eph. 2:14; 1 Cor. 15:22; Rom. 3:23-26). There is one race–the human race, and unless they believe that Jesus Christ is the “I am,” then they will die. They will die in Adam, and in their sins. There is no place in the church for a woke theology because it denies all that Christ accomplished on the cross–reconciliation across any division between individuals or groups, through the reconciliation of those individuals (and individuals making up those groups), to God the Father. The Leftist woke religion may be a gospel, but it is merely counterfeit, on its best day.

Responding to the Governing Authorities

Scripture calls us to respect, honor, and obey the governing authorities; and here we’ve come full circle. Here is where I call pastors and congregations to rethink their application of Romans 13 and 1 Timothy 2.

Existing governing authorities allow churches to meet and practice their worship, while the governing authorities beneath that previously existing authority are disobeying it by banning gatherings in churches. Let me demonstrate this by quoting the First Amendment of the Constitution contained within the Bill of Rights in its entirety:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

So, if the Governor of your state made a statewide declaration that, until the Coronavirus is under control, the sale or purchase of orange juice is now illegal, your natural instinct to perk up and say, “Hey, can he really do that?” is the right one–and no, he can’t. This is because the executive branch of the United States Government cannot make law, and neither can Governors simply declare that orange juice is now illegal in his state, nor can he instate an order which overrides the First Amendment. On the contrary, the First Amendment overrides his declaration. This means, that in the event that the Governor makes the peaceable assembly of a religious institution illegal, he is disregarding his existing governing authority–namely, the First Amendment; Conversely, when we look this statesman up and down and say, “Not so fast, skippy,” and disregard his disobedient order, we are the ones obeying the existing governing authority, which lies in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. This is an important category distinction that Pastors and Elders must consider when deciding how to go about obeying Romans 13 and 1 Timothy 2.

A Call to Careful Thinking

All this being said, this is by no means an invitation to disobey or defy your local church elders, as God has put them in authority, and I am not qualified to argue with their decision for your church. We are called by God to honor, respect, and obey them. It is, however, a call to elders and laymen both to carefully think through the why behind disregarding the command of Scripture to meet regularly together on the Lord’s Day.