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Let's talk about the insistence on meeting as a church without observing health and safety guidelines.
It's been happening, and we're all talking about it. So I figured, hey, let's really talk about this and their language of oppression or persecution as justification.
It's been happening, and we're all talking about it. So I figured, hey, let's really talk about this and their language of oppression or persecution as justification.
1. Churches aren't being singled out here. Everyone is supposed to avoid gatherings like that and to observe the guidelines set for our own safety. It's why masks in grocery stores are a thing, restaurants and bars are closed or low capacity.
It's EVERYONE. We are not being persecuted, merely asked to observe the same precautions as everyone else in the US.
2. We actually can still gather and do what churches do IF we observe the guidelines. Spacing, masks, cleaning. This is a virus control issue NOT a religious freedom one.
3. People around the world live with oppressive governments and cultures that are hostile to their Christian faith. Believers in those spaces actually risk their lives every time they talk about Jesus or meet in their small gatherings.
What's happening to us is wildly different. It's to keep us safe and healthy and for the safety of our families and communities. It's not about religion but public health, which is something we should care about as believers and as citizens.
4. If it was persecution, it would still be okay. The Church has traditionally grown and thrived in places where it's been most oppressed. In fact, the Church was born in such circumstances. Jesus even told us to expect it and rejoice in it.
If it was happening here, we would suffer, yes, but we'd also probably see an incredible movement of God. We're not promised easy lives or power. We're promised a forever Kingdom that doesn't have country loyalty.
5. Just because we can't meet like you're used to doesn't mean you can't meet at all. It's just time to be creative. Think safe and small.
Use this time to go deeper instead of wider, invite people into your homes, and pray for the persecuted or those who have little community globally for various reasons.
Treasure this as a time to experience with them. Use it as a lesson for your kids about how the church is bigger and strong than this world or a building.
Let's enter into the narrative of the faith that has existed since its birth. The Church is the people and the practices. We are empowered and equipped by the Holy Spirit.
And we are the creative people of the Creator God who can work in us in any circumstance to love him, each other, and our neighbors well with our worship together. /end
