Our Compromise in the Face of Covid-19: An open letter to the Church

Dear brothers and sisters, greetings in the name of King Jesus. 

I am writing to you (as I have written to my own Session) because I believe that we - the Church in North America - have let the Lord down.  Like Peter we have made big promises, but in a moment of trial we have in this way denied Him.  We have compromised and we have sinned.  I don't say that lightly.   Many better men than me hold an entirely different position. Still, I believe our decision to submit to the government is wrong.  I believe it’s seriously wrong.  I believe one day we will look back on this with sorrow at how easily we gave in to the pressures of government and society.   I know it’s well intended but still wrong.  

As you know churches almost everywhere (including our own) have closed.  Gathering together for worship has been replaced almost everywhere by live-streaming, so that there is no more ‘meaningful’ gathering of believers for the preaching of the Word and the administration of the sacraments.  Something has happened that I never dreamed I would live to see.

How did that happen?  Before this pandemic live-streaming was not considered an acceptable alternative except for the bedridden.  And how could it be?   To a persecuted Church God said, "do not forsake the assembling of ourselves together..."  In the same way it is to a gathered Church that Jesus promised "there am I in the midst of them;" and it is only a gathered Church that can administer the sacraments.   Those of us who have enjoyed seasons of refreshing from His presence know that there is something special about the gathered assembly of saints in worship.  There is something about the dynamic between preacher and congregation that cannot be replicated through online media.   Audio sermons are not the same.  The fact that reformed churches don't allow live-streaming as an alternative to regular attendance except in extreme cases suggests what the Church itself believes about the priority of coming together.  But now that has changed.  Why?

I have heard two answers to the question.    The first is taken from Romans 13.  We are told there to submit to those who are in authority.  After all, they are ministers for good.   And - I have been told - when the government restricts gatherings to just 5 people they aren't specifically targeting Christians. It isn't persecution.  I am astonished by such reasoning.  Even our children have been taught to understand that there is an exception to that rule.  What is that exception?  We cannot dishonour God to honour man.  In other words, we must obey God rather than man (Acts 5:29).  There is no clause specifying persecution as the special case.  God nowhere said “obey them except when they persecute you!”  He said simply, obey God rather than man.  His law must come first.  If the government tells all its citizens to lie I must refuse whether they are targeting Christians or not!   

Before I was married I worked at a chain factory, and on one occasion I was told to cheat.  I was asked to paint chain that hadn’t been properly plated.  The request had nothing to do with my Christianity; and when I refused and my boss threatened to fire me it wasn’t because I was a Christian but because I wouldn’t dishonour God even for him.  I wouldn’t cheat.  So it is here.  We have an express command to gather for worship.  The government’s authority does not trump God’s.  The fact that they aren’t persecuting Christians has nothing to do with it.  The question is simple: whose law will we obey? 

There is an irony in all of this... I have heard good men say that our current magistrates are not ministers for good.  They legalize the murder of unborn babies, they have redefined marriage, they allow euthanasia, and they do not acknowledge in word or deed the crown rights of King Jesus. I know of good men who feel perfectly comfortable breaking the law because they recognize our authorities are not ministers for good.  What's sadly ironic is that now when the government asks them to stop meeting for worship they believe it is important to obey.  I fear that for many (though certainly not all) this is not a principled decision but one driven by convenience and fear.  

The second answer is taken from Matthew 22:39: “And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”  We are told that it is not loving to gather for worship because in doing so we are putting people in danger.  By gathering we risk further spread of the virus.  So, we are told it is not loving to the community, it is not loving to the congregation and it sends the wrong message to the world.  We are told it is Christ-like to love our neighbour by following the advice of the experts.  If staying away from other believers may save lives we must not gather.

I don’t believe we have thought this argument through very carefully.  In previous generations for a member of a family to confess “Jesus is Lord” was to put his entire family (and sometimes extended family) in jeopardy.  To gather for worship was an activity that brought the wrath of magistrates down not only on individuals, but also families and communities.  Still, God’s people confessed “Jesus is Lord” and still they gathered.  While I was in Djibouti I had the privilege of witnessing courage in the face of persecution.  Converts from Islam would gather secretly to praise God because their discovery meant imprisonment or death.  Yet, their shouts of joy and victory could be heard on the streets because they couldn’t contain themselves.  Brothers it has never been safe to be a Christian.  It has never been popular to imitate Jesus; and the choices made by the faithful to live by another law (God’s law) have rarely been seen as loving by a worldly wise Church or culture.  Why?  Because their standards and priorities are so different from God’s.  Jesus warned, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”  Have you considered that we are trying to save men’s material, physical lives?   Remember the context.  Jesus was speaking of His dying, and Peter lovingly (but firmly) rebuked Him.  He loved Jesus and didn’t want Him to die.  I would urge you to consider Jesus’ answer: “But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.”  What was Peter’s problem?  He was savouring the things of men rather than the things of God.

I believe this is just the mistake we are making now.  We are savouring the things of men rather than the things of God.  It is man’s logic that says that the life and health of the body is everything.  Secular humanism teaches that man’s happiness is his reason for being.  Everything, then, must be calculated to make man as happy as possible for as long as possible.  Consider how we are reasoning during this pandemic.  Covid-19 will not likely infect everyone, but if it does it will kill (at most) 4 % of those it infects.  In the US in the last 3 months 22,000 died of the virus.  But during that same period 160,000 died of heart disease, 150,000 of cancer, 20,000 of influenza, 20,000 of diabetes, 40,000 of accidents, 40,000 of lower respiratory disease, 35,000 of cerebra vascular diseases, 12,000 of suicide (and around 50,000 through abortion).  We are not dealing with the bubonic plague which some say may have killed close to a ⅓ of Europe.  We and our neighbours are not facing certain (or even likely) death.  Yet confronted with even a hint of danger we have decided it best not gather to worship God.  In the hope that we might save a few lives we are willing to forsake the assembling of God’s people for the preaching of the Word and the administration of the sacraments.  We have accepted the philosophy of the world.  They are willing to take risks for what they deem essential, and yet we are not willing to take risks for what we once said was essential.  Of course, they don’t prioritize worship because they do not recognize or love King Jesus.  But He is our Master.  He bought us with His blood.  We see things differently now that we have been renewed.  We live by another standard and another philosophy.  This world isn’t everything.  The physical health and safety of our neighbours is not pre-eminent.  What is most important is the glory of God in the salvation of sinners.  This is the reason for the Church’s very existence.  Yet, persuaded by a world that neither loves God nor the souls of men, we have decided that we are loving our neighbour when we cease gathering for worship.  What is this but a savouring the things of men?  

Is it not possible for us to gather in such a way so as to minimize risk of spread?  Surely it is possible to meet in such a way so as to remain 6 feet apart.  We don’t have to touch one another.  We can wear masks.  We could meet secretly in a forest or barn.  Isn’t it possible that we are not considering these options because we are so used to doing whatever our government tells us?  Isn’t it possible that we are so used to living in a country free of persecution that we hardly know how to comprehend real suffering for Christ?  We have spoken of taking up our crosses for years but it was never tangible.  We learned to think of it only symbolically because we have been so comfortable.  Now that following Jesus means possible fines, imprisonment and alienation from the community (and Church) we seem to be at a loss.  Instead of taking up our cross, we are borrowing from the worldly-wise to justify a safer course.  

As a child I read the story of martyr after martyr.  I lived among Christians who really suffered for their gospel witness.  Since discovering the reformed world I have read of the lives of the covenanters who suffered and died because they wouldn’t submit to the authority of bishops.  These men could have gathered for worship on the government’s terms, but they chose instead to gather where they were forbidden.  For this their own friends and fellow churchmen turned on them. They were chased from place to place, often wandering from house to house because hunted.  Some were drowned, some tortured, many died all because they would not allow God’s government and worship to be tarnished, and because they insisted on gathering for worship.  Brothers where has that spirit gone?  What has become of God’s Church?  We have been told for years that we are lukewarm like the Laodicean church.  Isn’t possible that God is now revealing just how lukewarm we are?  How many of us said that we would never deny Jesus.  We would under no circumstances cease gathering to worship our Saviour.  Yet, a little trouble, a little trial, and we have stopped.  And how have we rationalized our decision?  Our reasons are borrowed from the world.  We are savouring not the things of God but the things of men.  I have often thought of Paul’s words to the Corinthians in his first letter.  There he wrote, “And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.  If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.”    Paul could reason from his life and theirs for the resurrection of the dead.  His life did not make sense apart from the resurrection.  This has always been a powerful mark of the Christian, that his life doesn’t make sense apart from the resurrection.  But is that true now?  Does our response to covid-19 show our confidence in the resurrection, so that our conduct makes no sense to the world except in light of a future resurrection?  It seems to me that our response to covid-19 makes a great deal of sense to them.  They don’t see “resurrection” written over our conduct.  Rather, like them we are doing all we can to save our lives and theirs.  The government has said the church gathering for worship is inessential and we have agreed with them.  We take risks to go to essential workplaces, we take risks to get groceries, but we will take no risks to worship God.  Brothers we have compromised and done so in the name of loving our neighbour.  What about their souls?   And what about the first and great commandment?  How can we love them if we do not first love Him?

Recently we heard a minister from our presbytery expressing the conviction that God is no longer calling us to worship.  That got me thinking.  If God is calling us to worship, shouldn’t the elders be calling us in His name?  And isn’t He calling us?  The government has said worship is inessential, but God has not said so.  The government has said we must not gather but God has not said so.  We are not laid up in bed.  We are not locked away in prison.  We are choosing not to gather because of our fear of man and our fear of disease.  We speak of tempting God but isn’t this tempting Him?   Should we not rather fear Him than fear man?  Many times we have left our homes and put our lives in jeopardy not knowing that they were jeopardy.  But we went out in faith to do our duty trusting the Lord’s providence; and He preserved us.  Some have been preserved miraculously.  Are we not tempting God when we say that He cannot protect us now?  

I have heard many men say that the call to worship does not trump other commands.  I agree, but then I don’t believe God would ever put us in a position where we would have to choose which command to obey.  We are not choosing between Sabbath observance and the 6th commandment.  It is not “either forsake the assembling of God’s people or commit murder.”  Rather it is as our forefathers used to say, “duty is ours, events are God’s.”  We do not know what shall be the issue (or consequence) of our gathering together.  We do not know for certain that anyone will get sick nor that anyone will die.  Those things belong to God.  That is His province, and it always has been.  If the Nazis came to the door enquiring if there were Jews inside we would not be obliged to answer them, but neither could we lie to them.  Rather we must leave the events to God.  In such a case we are not choosing between two commandments.  Rather, we are doing our duty and trusting God with the events.  That is what is required of us now just as ever.  The events of our gathering are not for us to know.  But that we have a duty to gather is as clear as ever.  Nothing has changed.  

Should those with covid-19 join with us?  Of course not.  Just as the sick were put out of the camp until clean so the sick should remain in quarantine until they are well.  Should we test God by throwing caution to the wind?  Of course not. We can gather safely, discreetly and using all prudence do everything reasonable and lawful to minimize the risk to ourselves and to our community.  But we are not given to know what God will do.  We do not know what will happen if we gather.  We only know it is our duty to do so.  And this has been the case from the beginning of creation and all through the history of the Church.  It’s been true the whole of our lives.  We never know who might get in a car accident while on the way to church, but we have learned to leave such things to Him who says our times are in His hands.  Just because the media and government are telling us different does not mean that God has changed.  Brothers, to the law and to the testimony (Isaiah 8:20)!   Let us do our duty and leave the events with Him.

Brothers and sisters, I believe you have been thoughtful and prayerful about the decisions you have made, but I am urging you to prayerfully reconsider.  Why not set aside a day for fasting and prayer about this particular matter?

Many around us are afraid of the virus.  Others are afraid of the magistrate.  Let us fear God.  Now more than ever the Church ought to be gathering.  We ought to be gathering for days of fasting and prayer, and we ought to be gathering for worship and the administration of the sacraments.  How shall we give an account of ourselves on the day of Judgment?  When that day comes we shall answer not only for how we have conducted ourselves in our homes and workplaces, but also for how we have conducted ourselves as undershepherds.  I know that you love the Lord’s sheep, I know that you labour for them and pray for them earnestly and sometimes with tears.  God is not unrighteous to forget what you have done for Him. He will remember.  But let us consider how we shall answer for our conduct in this time of trial.  These days are for our testing to see what is in us.  I fear that by our conduct we are saying “hitherto hath the Lord helped us, but now He cannot be trusted.  Now, we must take matters into our own hands.”   

We have all seen His preserving hand in our lives.  As the children’s catechism says we ought to glorify God “because He loves us and takes care of us.”  Many times He has preserved us when we weren’t even looking for help.  We did not know the danger we were in.  Now we are aware of the danger.  We have been told our lives are in jeopardy - though this itself is an exaggeration of the facts - but God has not changed.  He is still God, and He is still faithful.  And if He has not changed neither have we.  It is still true that to die is gain.  It is still true that we are risen with Christ.  He “hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”  Our names are written in heaven.  We are already citizens there.  Let us then live in light of that coming glorious day of resurrection.   I love the reformed churches, but I believe the decision to submit to the government was a  mistake.  God is calling His people to worship.  As His servants please call God’s people again to gather.   A father has his honour and a master his, but God asks, “where is mine (Malachi 1:6)?”  Please receive this letter in the spirit in which it is written.  I am aware that my life is marred by hypocrisy and weakness.  I am ashamed that I am not the man I ought to be.  I wish that this were coming from the hand of a better man; but I believe it is what God would have me to say, not for my sake but His.

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Edit, May 24, 2021: For a recent follow up go here.

A sermon manuscript on Romans 13 - November 2020 - is available here.  The audio version can be found here.

March 3, 2022: See An open letter to the Church, part 2

November 26, 2022: