In recent columns, I’ve been considering when and why Christian civil disobedience is warranted. The issue arises, of course, in response to the restrictions placed upon our church as part of the government’s efforts to mitigate the effects of COVID-19. They’ve asked churches to reduce their meeting size to 50 people per room, and we have. We’ve supported the mask mandate by posting signs, providing masks, and requesting compliance. They requested that personal gatherings be eliminated, so we’ve encouraged care groups to adjust. Why have our elders chosen to comply in all these ways rather than resist?
A third reason (in addition to the two I described earlier) is that we have resolutely determined to restrict our rationale for this decision to our specific areas of calling and expertise. We are not medical doctors, constitutional lawyers, or political analysts. We are pastors. Our main areas of proficiency are the care of souls and the teaching of Scripture. It’s a pretty narrow skill set, but we aren’t embarrassed of it one bit! That is our God-given calling, and we are more than happy to keep our focus right there.
We are well aware that this pandemic has stirred up all sorts of medical, political, and legal debates. Do masks have any effect? Can the government legally dictate what we do in our own homes? Have our civil rights to privacy, expression, and worship been permanently damaged? Our elders are all thoughtful men. As you might imagine, all three of us have our own private opinions about these issues. But we refuse to make our private opinions into policy decisions for our church because that would require us to act outside our God-given calling and training.
Again, we are pastors. We are not properly equipped to determine for you whether you should be wearing a mask—not to mention all the other legal and political issues involved. Even the experts in these fields don’t agree (including the ones who actually ARE experts!). So we are happy to watch these debates from the sidelines and pray for wisdom and courage for those who are responsible to make these decisions.
In short, we’ve tried to shape our decisions around the principles clearly revealed in God’s word. God tells us not to forsake assembling together and to submit to our governing authorities. So that’s what we’ve done. And He’s given us one more relevant principle—the law of love—to which I’ll turn our attention in next week’s column.