The Church and the Coronavirus: A Struggle

The ripple effects of the coronavirus continue.  As a pastor of a local church and as someone who has had a pastoral role for 48 years, I have watched with both interest and alarm at the response of the Church to this pandemic.  The interest has centered around observing something that previously was an unknown.  The Church has responded to epidemics and tragedies in various ways in the past.  During the bubonic plague of the Middle Ages, it was Church members who buried the dead, brought the sick into their homes, even at the risk of contracting the disease themselves, and used sanctuaries as havens of hope and help.  During the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, once again the Church responded with open arms and open doors to provide hope and help to people in need.  And, in the past years we have witnessed how the Church has responded to natural disasters - hurricanes, tsunamis, tornadoes, earthquakes - providing emergency help, and, once again, hope.  It seems that the Church often does its best work in the midst of tragedy and heartache.  And, I am not saying that the Church has not responded during this pandemic, for, indeed, it has.  People have reached out to neighbors and to complete strangers with help and assistance and hope.  (Note: I will share an example later in this blog).


But here is where my alarm begins to ring.  For the first time in my memory, the government has ordered houses of worship to be closed.  Doors are locked.  Pulpits are silent unless there is the weekly live-streamed service on a Sunday morning.  Classrooms are empty.  Offices are darkened as staff work from laptops at home.  I know that some of you may be saying, "Well, Max, the Church is not a building; it is people reaching out to others at home, at school, and in their neighborhoods."  And you are correct when you state that.  That is the Church working.  That is the Church witnessing.  That is the Church sharing.


But the Bible admonishes the Church to be a gathered place for worship and encouragement.  The writer to the Hebrews expressed that truth with these words: "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching" (Hebrews 10:25).  There is a place for "house churches", but there is also a place for "corporate worship."  The writer says that it is imperative that the Church gathers together in one place for the purposes of encouraging one another.  Friends, we need that connection with one another.  God did not create His Church to be a series of little islands, but to be a body with members connected to one another.  And, for the past eight weeks this provision of Body connection has been absent.  And it has been missed.  From the people I have contacted via phone, to those I have had personal one-on-one time with , there is a hunger for the corporate Body to meet once again.  Yes, we will have to maintain the protocols expected, but, as one person expressed it to me, "I want to get back where I can lift up my hands in worship with many others in praise to God."  When will that be allowed?  Well, for most of us in a variety of States, that decision rests in the hands of one person and one person alone - the Governor. 


Friends, I have to admit that I am really struggling right now with how to respond.  I recall the words of Jesus when asked about paying taxes: "Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's."  Is my privilege to worship corporately something given by Caesar (the state) or given by God?  Have I surrendered something given by God because of the desires of the state?  There is no easy answer.  The answer from the state is that by closing corporate worship lives have been saved.  And I truly understand that thinking.  But why have not houses of worship been closed in the past when other epidemics and pandemics have raged across the landscape?  Why now?  And, if those houses of worship so easily surrendered that First Amendment right to freedom of religious expression, will they do so again when the State demands it of them? 


You have probably read of the demands of Quinton Lucas, mayor of Kansas City, MO, placed upon churches within that city.  According to a report published at www.wnd.com/2020/05/city-demands-churches-turn-names, the mayor required churches to "submit list of members and attendees along with their names, addresses and telephone numbers to city officials for tracking and surveillance purposes."  What this means is that you attend your place of worship on a Sunday morning.  While there, someone is writing down your name and looking through the church data base for an address and a phone number, preferably a cell phone, and then sends that information to someone in the local city hall.  There you will be put into another data base and tracked.  How many people will excitedly return to houses of worship knowing that "big brother" will have a record of your attendance there?  It will probably keep many at home. 


Allow me to share one more incident that caused alarm.  Samaritan's Purse erected a field hospital in Central Park in New York City to help Mt. Sinai Hospital treat pandemic patients.  Doctors and nurses associated with Samaritan's Purse would staff this hospital with expenses being paid by Samaritan's Purse and not by either the patients or the hospital.  Almost immediately LGBT activists gathered spreading their message of hate because of Samaritan's Purse's position on homosexuality in their hiring policies.  The leader of Reclaim Pride said, "How was this group ever considered to bring their hatred and their vitriol into our city at a time of crisis when our people are fighting a pandemic" (www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent).  On May 1, Corey Johnson, the speaker of the New York City Council, released the following statement: "It is time for Samaritan's Purse to leave NYC.  This group, led by the notoriously bigoted, hate-spewing Franklin Graham, came at a time when our city couldn't in good conscience turn away any offer of help.  That time has passed.  Their continued presence here is an affront to our values of inclusion, and is painful for all New Yorkers who care deeply about the LGBTQ community.  I'm aware that our battle against COVID-19 is still ongoing, and that our health care system - and the amazing workers who have been the heroes of this unprecedented time in our history - still needs support.  The @NYCCouncil is committed to supporting those workers and protecting our city's public health.  But as a city that values diversity and compassion for all, we can't continue allowing a group with their track record to remain here when we're past the point they're needed." 


All I can say to that is "Wow!"  An arm of the Church reached out to New York City in its time of need and sent doctors and nurses and medical teams into the eye of the storm.  And what is the gratitude expressed by the city leaders?  Get out of town! 


I have to share with you that the persecution promised in Scripture - remember those words of Peter: "For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?" 1 Peter 4:17 - is at hand.  The divide is coming, if not already here, when we, as followers of Jesus Christ, will have to ask ourselves if we are all-in for Jesus. 

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