Covid 19 has proven to be a problem of epic proportion to the entire community. On one had, we are dealing with a medical and scientific community examining the virus, studying its progression and trying to understand and apply the best science based methods to overcome it.
On another we have the governmental authority assessing the financial impact and human value impact of the virus and trying to mitigate its impact on the health and well-being of the community and finally we have the church attempting to gauge its level of involvement, reduce the erosion, even if temporary, of its freedoms and redefine its actions and outreach methods during these perilous times.
The Medical Professionals
I would first like to say that The DUNAMIS WORD APPRECIATES all medical professionals, scientists, first responders and Governmental authorities in all the work they are doing in effort to keep our community safe and help us through these trying times! YOU and your families are in our prayers and we believe God that he will grant you strength in your efforts and duties. THANK YOU!!!!
The Church
Secondly, to the church and our fellow believers...while the motivations of many, if not most of us are pure, to those that see this as an opportunity to take advantage of the people, let's get a grip and get it quickly, because Clovid 19, whether one believes it is a "judgement of God or not" is not the only problem on the horizon either for the United States, the world community nor the church.
The Confusion Crisis
Now, let me just say first, the church has found a way to continue some RIDICULOUS practices even though God is closing certain doors and challenging values and ethics...folk have exalted tithe and offering so high, until some don't care if an individual is sick or not..."drive through" and "curb side" church service featuring..."place the money in the envelope" is horrific!!! Please STOP the madness and get a clue!!! Some are so underwater in church mortgages that it is nearly impossible for them to survive and maintain as a congregation financially if the good ole tithe doesn't come in...so some have resorted to schemes and church gimmicks to help their earthly kingdom survive the covid 19 scare. I could say more but...
OK, Back To Rational Conversation...
First let's be real. People are dieing of covid 19 related illness. Many, more than a few preachers and pastors I know have left here in recent days due to this virus.
Yet this global crisis has not stopped the church from questioning its place and position and how it is supposed to act during these times. Yes, clergy...that is GOOD clergy, are ESSENTIAL and are a part of FIRST RESPONSE to any humanitarian crisis. The church is ESSENTIAL to the growth, health and vitality of our community and nation. Both should be honored as such. But as such, clergy should be prepared and realize that they too, are under orders and many of those orders have been established by divine command.
Titus 3:1 ~ Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,
Romans 13:1 ~ Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
A Little Theology
The aforementioned scriptures are often cited in situations of abuse and misuse. Example, how many times have your heard people who criticize the bible contend that these scriptures were scriptures that endorsed slavery or some other form of human or humanitarian abuse?
However, I would contend that these scriptures were never intended to be used to support abuse, misuse and or subvert human moral values of the individual to the State or any authority. These scriptures were rendered to call the church to the highest levels of service and the highest levels of witness and response to the community and to reaffirm that God was in control of all things, no matter who sat in the seat of power. Those are the lessons of Paul's teaching here and elsewhere.
How do I know this? Quite simply, Paul teaches that believers should see the Lord through his ministry and observe Christ by his example. They were to follow his example as his example was an example of Christ. (1 Cor. 11:1)...Now, was Christ an abuser of men? Did Christ lead men into abuse and subjugation? Critics level many criticisms and lay a lot of things at Jesus' feet, but I don't believe any rational scholar, or anyone worth his salt, makes the argument with any success that Jesus was an abuser of men and or mankind or that he led anyone into an abusive situation. In fact an examination of his life demonstrates that he did just the opposite.
If Paul's reference was Christ, and if Christ was the ultimate example, then how and in what world could Paul possibly be commending abuse or telling people to blindly subject themselves to rules of abuse of an evil ruler, especially if those rules also violated the Law of God?
The Commission of The State:
In light of the above facts, we should rightfully ask what is the relationship between the rule of God and the power and authority of the State, which only acknowledges God in a cursory or topical manner? Should we simply dumb down to the "godless" State and everything it requests, when we know that the essence of its request do not honor the God we serve?
Then if we "fight the power", simply because the power is saying something, are we fighting a righteous fight?
In that article, I suggest that as a church we should be careful about giving up freedoms and to whom we give those freedoms to. I yet continue to stand by that argument because it is so vitally important, however, when the state and all people are confronted with a crisis, the church should be front and center in helping to mitigate that crisis.
A REAL First Responder
The CHURCH is not only essential, but it is a FIRST RESPONDER. The condition of the community, state and nation depends upon the response of the church to the people who comprise the state, community and church.
Matthew 28:19-20 ~ (19)Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: (20)Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Sadly, the church has undershot its mission, but the original commission of the church was to serve the community and transform the world...to "teach them" to "observe" whatsoever things that Jesus had commanded. This was to be both a natural and spiritual benefit and blessing to the community and the entire world (wherever the church would be found)
Is the refusal to close the church building, in light of an epidemic which is drastically effecting the community ungodly? It could be, but does it have to be?
Is the refusal to obey directives of law and policy godly or righteous if it is done to the "glory of God"? Is the relationship between church and state and who controls what strictly a FIRST Amendment issue?
I believe that our questions and resultant expressions or responses may be inadequate. There is much more at stake and or at risk than issues of personal freedoms or state impositions upon those freedoms. What covid 19 has done is place a human or life's value issue on the subject in a way that the world really was not ready to explain.
IS the CHURCH about saving lives as it says and will it respect the rights to save lives as it is commissioned to do? This is the challenge, and I will tell you why:
Now, for the State, this would be a good, clear and applicable question if ABORTION and ABORTION services, which the state upholds also as a right, were not at issue...You see, having killed over 50 million babies (or so the abortion estimates are since 1972) is not exactly a rallying point for the State to claim that it is attempting to suddenly protect its most vulnerable, or ride on a high horse saying that it really and solely cares about life and its value.
In other words, the states claim of valuing life can easily and readily be viewed as either hypocritical or at the very least dubious and one that the church should and could be easily viewed in an ominous manner neither of which make the case for the State that it has an pure interest saving lives.
There is a new horse in the race and one that cannot be overlooked, although it is being overlooked by extremists on both sides of the issue.
To the critic ready to simply and blindly follow every edict of the state because one misinterprets the scripture to endorse blind allegiance governmental authority simply because it is governmental authority, I would encourage you to pull back and think things through a little more circumspectly, as our real freedoms did not come from the state and cannot be taken away and should not be surrendered to the state at the State's whims for any event and or reason....
Similarly, those of us in the REAL church, must be reminded that our position of glorifying God extends far beyond a building or sanctuary no matter the size and or cost of that building or sanctuary.
Certainly to close a building is not to be closed to or to exclude God in any way or manner. Neither should our position ever be that the material affects of this existence are, by themselves, worth dissenting over, especially when the truth is that ALL things belong to God.
In other words, God will commission even the devil to do his bidding. The devil may think he is in control of his actions, and he certainly is, as he exercises his own freewill also, but God yet is in control and provision has already been made for HIS people.
CONCLUSION
What we know is that many individuals, are leaving this world due to this current pandemic or epidemic of covid 19. Though the numbers of death are not and neither will be extraordinarily high, (as only about 1.4% of them who contract the disease pass away from it) the pace of contagion is astounding, and being that the virus is especially unrelenting within them who are already compromised in their health, covid 19 is somewhat of a fearful disease or illness.
Closing a church temporarily to mitigate the public and community damage and individual suffering as a result of a pandemic or community crisis, should not be an issue. Our call is much greater than a building and or pews or seats...Much greater than a show or a Sunday morning thrill, is the LIVING WORD which resides on the inside of the individual.
With that said, we must affirm that the state does not have a right of subjugation of the church. There is no law which allows the church to arbitrarily become the captive of the state. A stand for freedom is in order. Our allegiance is not to blind, nor was it to be used in endorsement of ungodly and anti-biblical moral values and constructs.
So while personal liberties and personal freedoms are good topics and a essential conversations to be had among believers and civic leaders alike, the sure thing is that God is God no matter if covid 19 exists or not and that HE will get the glory and the world to bow to HIS majesty as HE is yet in control of all things.
We believe God for an outcome much less than the current expectation of over 200,000 lives lost. God is still ABLE to do what he does, and that is turn death away when God's mission and purpose has been fulfilled.
There's much more to this story than meets the eye I am sure.
Blessed!
UPDATE 4/1/2020
Pastor Rodney Howard-Brown, featured in this article, was recently arrested because he refused to close down his church in light of the "stay at home" order and large group probation issued by State leadership.
Now I must say that Pastor Howard-Brown has is certainly not unfamiliar with controversy. The founder of the "gold dust" and "gold tooth" movement, Howard-Brown has his issues. Of course this event was met with much controversy especially after the Chief of Police painted the picture that Howard-Brown was not a good citizen and that he had endangered the lives of countless persons in his congregation.
The facts however, don't match the accusation. According to his Attorney, Liberty Counsel, Pastor Howard-Brown took the following measures to keep congregants safe:
- Enforced the six-foot distance between family groups in the auditorium as well as the overflow rooms
- All the staff wore gloves
- Every person who entered the church received hand sanitizer
- In the farmer’s market and coffee shop in the lobby, the six-foot distance was enforced with the floor specifically marked (farmer’s markets and produce stands are expressly exempted)
- The church spent $100,000 on a hospital-grade purification system set up throughout the church that provide continuous infectious microbial reduction that is rated to kill microbes, including those in the coronavirus family.
Now, I venture to ask...Does the GROCERY STORE that remains open during this pandemic do any of this? Does the LIQUOR STORE that also remains open during this pandemic DO ANY OF THESE THINGS for the safety of their customers?
A family need not be separated. to do so is STUPID. Evidently the 6 foot rule was being enforced to whatever degree. The families that came together stayed together. So why the OBTUSE and biased view against the church here? I believe that is because some people have bought into the the concept of communism and don;t really understand what American freedom and liberty is all about.
America is still not communist, at least officially, however large segments of our population have accepted socialism as acceptable within society. Look at the Democratic Party's finalist...a self avowed socialist named Bernie Sanders, who has never even claimed to be a Democrat. In fact the love for Sander's Socialism and the views he expressed that were rooted in socialist values and even borderline Communism, threatened and still yet threatens to tear away at the core of American politics and social values both now and for years to come.
