There is a popular expression, attributed to an unidentified and apocryphal Chinese curse, which malignantly wishes: “May you live in interesting times.” We find ourselves living in such times. Churches around the world are making decisions in response to COVID-19 which has been named a pandemic by the World Health Organization, a national emergency by the American President, and a state/public health emergency by all 50 states in the US. We are living in the midst of a public health scare on a scale unseen since the 1918 Spanish Flu. No doubt many of the popular responses to this crisis are hysterical, ill-informed, and unhelpful. Some of the recommendations from our civil authorities may prove in time to have been overly cautious and unnecessary. But as those to whom Christ has committed spiritual authority and the care of souls in local congregations, church leaders cannot afford to simply ignore these recommendations and risk the safety and welfare of our members and the church’s public witness.
When our elders met Tuesday evening and decided to suspend all corporate, in-person gatherings of our church, including worship on the Lord’s Day, for the next two weeks, we did so with heavy hearts. Several of us voiced our intent coming into the meeting to cancel everything except the morning worship on the Lord’s Day, but after praying for wisdom, reviewing the data, and discussing our options, we all came to consensus that a two week, voluntary quarantine was wise and appropriate. We knew this decision would disappoint many, frustrate others, and be met with scorn by some of our brethren, especially outside our congregation. This was unavoidable. Such responses can never be a major factor in decision-making, if they are ever an appropriate factor at all. If we had decided to continue holding public worship services, as we did on the last two Lord’s Days despite encouragement from many sectors to cancel, that decision too would have been met with disappointment, frustration, and scorn.
Advocates of big government and opponents of religious and personal liberty will always use crises to expand their agenda and influence, and I have no doubt it will be so in this case. Western society may, and likely will, be permanently affected by the measures taken to address the Corona virus, for good or ill. But the recommendations of government leaders and public health agencies at this time are neither an explicit nor implicit attack upon religious liberty or our spiritual obligations. If the government were forbidding churches to ever assemble with more than 10 persons present, the visible Church would have an obligation to defy and disobey that order. But this is not the case. We should be concerned to maintain and uphold our biblical duties and civil liberties, but we should not fight the wrong battle or choose the wrong hill to die upon. Remember Peter’s eagerness to fight and die in the garden, but his lack of preparedness and failure of faith and courage when tested in the courtyard. Zeal without knowledge is neither commendable nor useful.
Are churches sinning who decide not to meet for worship on the Lord’s Day during this crisis? They certainly could be. If the decision is made because men desire to “take a break” from church and religious obligation, then it is certainly contemptible and an offense against God. But is this likely the reason most churches are suspending their assemblies? If the decision is made from irrational fear due to the dangers of illness or potential death, this also is a motive unworthy of Christ and the people of God. If the decision is based on the fear of man and a readiness to submit every activity of the church to civil authorities or popular opinion and pressure, then this too is an unfaithful and wicked position to adopt. But not every concern about public health and safety is irrational, not every decision to submit to the recommendations of civil authorities about public assemblies is an unbiblical capitulation, and not every choice to remain home rather than gathering with the saints for worship on the Lord’s Day is sin.
We all recognize, or should, that the saints have an obligation to gather with the church for corporate worship on the Lord’s Day. But we also recognize that sometimes neglect of this obligation is not only not sinful but prudential. Would we gather with the saints for worship if we were seriously ill? No, most of us decide that if we are sick and likely to infect others, we should stay at home. Most of us have missed corporate worship to care for a sick child or to minister to those who are in crisis, whether physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. So what do we do when the entire community is “sick” and in crisis? That is the situation we find ourselves in. This is not a permanent situation, and if it were, at some point we would simply have to go on and gather for worship knowing that doing so brings a much greater risk for some of us. But is there not a place for wisdom and care in the midst of crisis, to attempt to safeguard the vulnerable and love our neighbors by helping to contain and cut down on public exposure and further infection? Yes, and we should not sit in judgment of those seeking to act with discretion and in faith in these times.
Many churches have chosen to suspend corporate gatherings for a time. Some have no choice because they are in countries or communities which have ordered lockdowns of the population. Others have voluntarily done so in submission to the recommendations of civil authorities and in respect for public health. Some may have taken this course for sinful reasons. They may be driven by irrational fear, be surrendering spiritual authority to civil agencies, or be acting from concern for public opinion rather than biblical wisdom. But you and I cannot know that, at least, not conclusively in most cases. We do not know any man’s heart, and we are not to judge the motives that remain hidden there.
Some churches will continue to meet, and whether wise or not, this remains their right to do. Could that decision be sinful? Certainly, if made for proud, self-righteous, or contentious reasons. The person who is determined to display his piety by attending worship while highly contagious is not only an arrogant man but a fool. But not every decision to maintain public worship assemblies can be so judged, and some of those quick to do so are just as guilty of sinful condemnation as those who are judging the ones who have decided to stay home. Let each be convinced in his own mind and not judge his brother.
These are certainly interesting times, days I never imagined or desired to see, but this is not the end of the story. The Lord calls us to walk by faith, not in fear. The COVID-19 virus is not the first, and is far from the worst, pandemic to sweep across the face of the globe. We take comfort in the promise of our Lord: “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18b). Christ did not need our help to build His church, and no virus or public health crisis or civil disturbance can undo what He has done. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (Rom. 8:35). Not even COVID-19, widespread quarantines, and global efforts to contain the virus shall be able to separate us from the love of God. Sing the psalms joyfully, read the Scriptures reverently, pray boldly and humbly. This crisis will pass, and when it does, the Church will still be standing righteous in Christ. Do not fear. Be strong and courageous. The God of Jacob will defend, uphold, and sustain His people.
--Joel M. Ellis, Jr. (March 2020)
