#889.5 Corona Virus and Church Worship

I live in Florida, and I have been asked by several people, mostly unbelievers, about church worship and social distancing during the Covid 19 outbreak. In my state, the governor has upheld peoples' freedom to assemble, but has also encouraged that it be done with the same measures of social distancing practiced by other institutions that are considered essential. Okay, so there is liberty, but as a Christian my conscience should be "held captive by the Word of God." There are many things that are considered lawful in our country that I would not condone or participate in, but what of this most recent request to social distance, and what does that look like for believers during this?

22 Are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? 23“Everything is permissible,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is edifying. 24 No one should seek his own good, but the good of others.… 1 Corinthians 10: 22-24

Now some, who profess to be believers, think that they are under a divine mandate to go to church on Sunday, and they site this passage:

…24 And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds. 25 Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching. 26 If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains,… Hebrews 10:24-26

Now it is not my intent to speak down to anyone, and the local government has not labeled it as civil disobedience to assemble at church during the outbreak, but I, and my family, will not be attending at a church building for services tomorrow. Look at the passage above again, and look at the amplification of the original statement in verse 25, following the neglect or forsaking in some versions, there is the context of "as some have made a habit". Some will say, "well, those will use this as an excuse not to meet with the body of Christ." Sure, but those same, myself not long ago, do not need this as a reason to forsake assembling together, we were habitual offenders that will use anything as an excuse:

1. I am an introvert, and this has had little impact on me socially. Does this mean that everyone who claims the name of Christ should be more unsociable like me? No, we are all different, and while congregating, may be for me, more dying to myself, not congregating will be a greater cross for those who are extroverts. 

2. The same people who don't go because "the church is full of hypocrites", those same people will still not see themselves as hypocrites, with or without a pandemic.

3. The same people, like me, will hold some other thing as more valuable, like fishing, being too hungover from last night, a foot ball game, etc., some idol that they hold higher than God's word.  

Now, I would like for us all to consider the stumbling block, and is it one of necessity or because we are lacking maturity in understanding both the letter and the spirit of the law? 

1 Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2“Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands when they eat.” 3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?… Matthew 15: 1-3

23 One Sabbath Jesus was passing through the grain fields, and His disciples began to pick the heads of grain as they walked along. 24 So the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” 25 Jesus replied, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need?…

…26 During the high priesthood of Abiathar, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which was lawful only for the priests. And he gave some to his companions as well.” 27 Then Jesus told them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 Therefore, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”… Mark 2: 23-28

This is one time where the church and society are saying that life is important, and yes, there is a lot of hypocrisy in that, the irony is not lost on me either, but there are people out there who are scared. It is wonderful for you, if you truly know the Lord, that you are not scared of death, but if that is true about you then consider what our Lord said:

…44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even tax collectors do the same?…

…47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even Gentiles do the same? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5: 44-48

We have an opportunity to be a light here, to help protect those who are most vulnerable by staying at home, limiting physical contact, and learning to do the things we have often omitted, like:

1. The Bible tells us that children are given to their parents to bring up in the nurture and admonishment of the Lord. Our children should be having church with us whether the buildings are open or not, and this shouldn't end when the buildings open again. 
2. Personal prayer time. This is often neglected when we get into the habit of ritual, worshiping with our mouths but not with our hearts. Every command of God is concerned with the heart, and going to a building to check off a box, to receive the commendation, compliments or even the social high of being gathered together, is no true replacement for obedience that comes from the heart. 

4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 5 And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your inner room, shut your door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.… Matthew 6: 4-6

…5 Let your gentleness be apparent to all. The Lord is near. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.… Philippians 4: 5-7

This present trial is more an inconvenience, and I refuse to count it as actually suffering. I know there are Christians all over the world who are in prison for preaching God's word, for assembling together against mandates that have nothing to do with health, but rather tyranny. This is not the same. Let's look at the Apostle Paul:

16 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.

19 When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”

22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.

35 When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: “Release those men.” 36 The jailer told Paul, “The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.”

37 But Paul said to the officers: “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out.”

38 The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. 39 They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. 40 After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them. Then they left. Acts 16: 16-40

This is a loaded passage, but let's look at a few points:

1. Paul and Silas are going to the place of prayer, and this is of no harm to anyone, but they are being followed and outed by a fortune teller, who knows who they are, and I am going to resist opening that can of worms now.

2. Paul cast the demon out of her, and the heart intentions of her owners are made known here, this was a financial loss, but that is not how they spun it. They tried to appeal to the law. This is a hard time everywhere for us as well, and the full weight of the the economic impact has yet to be felt. Church buildings cost money, and I am not trying to down play that, but lets be careful that this is not our reason for assembling. Be honest though, for some churches it is, that is their country club. There are pastors out there who are in this for dishonest gain, for self adoration and glory, for control of their flock, and it is not their calling but rather their empire.

And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, 2 and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. 3 So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; 4 for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”

Jesus Predicts the Destruction of the Temple

5 Then, as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, He said, 6 “These things which you see—the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down.” Luke 21: 1-6

The widow gave more than all of them, everything, and when He pointed that out to them their hearts should have burst, for true religion is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in the time of their affliction, but they didn't bat an eye. They gave of their wealth and here she was in poverty and affliction, they had the resources to help her, yet they would let her go home and starve to death. Now look at it in the context, look at verse 5, they come up with no such plan for this faithful widow's relief, no, they revert to what they worship, their materialism, the glory of the building, and now read verse 6. Without the spirit they had no hope in following the letter, they added to the letter, removed the weightier matters, thought themselves righteous, but remained spiritually still born. 

3. Let's move on to Paul and Silas in prison. Did their relationship with God stop? Was God no longer sovereign? No, they sang and worshiped God in a place they did not ask to be put. They glorified him in the state they were in and learned to be content. The walls of their prison were not their choice, but if God is sovereign then His hand is in it, and all things will work together for good to them that love God and are called according to His purpose. Please don't miss this, look at verse 26; whom the Son sets free will be free indeed, and this is the point at which most others would run, but these were just walls of brick and mortar, these men were already free. Go to verse 27, they didn't flee, and in not leaving they saved the life of the jailer. 

There is a lot in that passage and I didn't mean for this to be so long, but just a few more points. We live in an age where we have access to internet, email, Zoom, face time, and cell phones. A lot of churches are using various means to live stream church. Today, my father and I met with several other men from the part of the body that resides in St. Cloud, on our computers and cell phones through Zoom. It was in the morning so my first thought was that this wasn't for me because I am not a morning person, but somehow I ended up on the call anyway, and I was encouraged by just listening to their stories. If your church does not have such a set up for service, then surely your pastor knows of someone who does, who teaches sound doctrine and who he could recommend. Maybe your pastor could team up with one of these other churches and one of you could do morning and the other night service. If you know an elderly person that misses being there, then maybe you have an Ipad that she could borrow or you could set up on her porch so she could see the service. I have seen God's providence through out all of this, and I am encouraged when I see 20,000 medical professionals willing to put themselves in the hot spot of New York, volunteering their time, possibly their health, to help others in need. Please don't think of me as stoic either, I broke down the other day after talking to about 10 different people, all of whom asked me when this was going to end, and I don't have a crystal ball so I don't know. Some of these are my guys from work, and I love them like my own blood, so I worry about how long this will go on, when the checks might stop coming in, and what kind of stress they will be under. I think of my kids and when they complain about anything right now I am ready to send them to a third world country. I miss my guys, I miss being able to handle things without all the added steps and contemplation, but we all miss the comfort and security, false as it may be, of what was the consistency of our lives, our work and our fellowship. 

I hope this helps somebody, and grace and peace, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, hopefully we will all embrace again soon, but for now me and my family are going to accept our current confinement in the hopes that this slows down the virus and allows are medical facilities to catch up. 

Also, as Christians we are instructed to pray for our leaders, and let's be honest, at some point someone will have to make the decision to open up for business again, and the media will tear them apart as a murderer, even though many people will die in car accidents on those same days, from cancer, overdose, the flu, heart disease, etc. I thank God I am not the one with that kind of weight on my shoulder, for I have long watched men in the corporate world who refuse to make decisions of much less gravity. No one likes to be unpopular, but their are some decisions that you are going to lose something no matter which direction you chose. God bless and I love you guys, Calvin