In the past week I’ve tried to answer a couple of questions from people who are wondering if the church is simply acting out of fear by following the guidelines put in place by the government. If we were really faithful, wouldn’t we be gathering together, shaking hands and singing without masks? So, before you write us all off as a bunch of lily livered cowards here are a couple of things to keep in mind.
The restrictions that prevent us from filling our church buildings are not persecution. We know this because we are not the only group facing them. My son’s soccer season was cancelled, my daughter’s volleyball season came to a screeching halt and my neighbours are working from home.
Scripture calls on us to respect governing authorities (Romans 13:1). Yes, I know there are also times when we must choose to “obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). Wisdom is knowing which time we are living in!
Scripture says we are to meet together (Hebrews 10:25). It also says we are to love our neighbours (Leviticus 19:18). When our meeting together puts our neighbours at risk, it is loving to take the exceptional step of cancelling our gatherings.
Not meeting together is a way of bearing witness to our community. An empty parking lot tells our neighbours that we care enough about them to give up something that is important to us.
In humility, we admit that we are not the experts. Yes, we have access to google and a friend of a friend shared something really good on Facebook but, that doesn’t make us experts. Because we are not experts it is reasonable to place a degree of trust in those who have done the study. They are not infallible but, we allow their words to carry an appropriate weight.
It’s only Sunday morning that’s changed. I miss Sunday mornings. I miss them so much that I have had to collect myself after seeing familiar faces in our online service but, Sunday morning is only a part of what the church does. You are still free to read Scripture, to pray, to bless our neighbours and to preach the good news!
I’m looking forward to the first Sunday when our building is full. I’m praying for that day to come soon. I hope you miss our gatherings too but, don’t feel guilty because we can’t gather.