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I find the suggestion that churches shouldn’t meet when they legally can quite puzzling.
Why do church leaders want to be more restrictive on religious liberties than the secular government? Why do they seemingly value physically meeting less than the government?
Why do church leaders want to be more restrictive on religious liberties than the secular government? Why do they seemingly value physically meeting less than the government?
Physically gathering for worship is a divine command. Why do we feel we are at liberty to reject this? Most of us did online when we couldn’t physically meet. But online is a pale imitation of the real thing, it merely mitigated some of the pain of not meeting during lockdown.
I’ve been struck reading 2&3 John of the importance of face to face (literally: mouth to mouth) communication instead of more impersonal means. If we’re allowed by law to meet, I find it staggering that church leaders would counsel not meeting.
If church members are at risk or don’t want to come, that’s their call. But we shouldn’t make it for them but closing. Instead we ought to encourage our church members, as much as they can, to be part of the physical Sunday gathering.
And as for the “it’s loving our neighbour”... is it really loving our neighbour to stop them from coming and hearing the gospel & worshipping God? Online engagement can be very misleading (I’ve seen the average length of time people watch my sermons for! 
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And the command to love neighbour is the 2nd greatest command.
What is the first?
To love God. And the NT expression of that is to worship him in the physical gathering. The gathering isn’t just horizontal (to build each other up) but vertical. It’s to give him glory publicly
What is the first?
To love God. And the NT expression of that is to worship him in the physical gathering. The gathering isn’t just horizontal (to build each other up) but vertical. It’s to give him glory publicly
And so to set aside that command to worship God publicly on the Lord’s Day, when the government has allowed it!, I find quite remarkable.
