Just Because We Can Doesn't Mean We Should

Over the last ten weeks the sanctuary at First Baptist Monroe has sat dormant. Though we haven't been worshiping in that space, worship has continued via a more intimate setting in our church's choir room beamed up into airwaves for people to participate in on all manner of personal devices. I have missed being able to gather with our folks there, and when I walk through it now, something is definitely missing. It is a vast understatement to say the COVID-19 pandemic has overturned our very way of life. Restrictions on work, retail, recreational, and social activities have hit us all hard. Like a two year old toddler, the first instance or two of being told "no" might slip right by us, but after repeated denials, that opposition often grows into anger-filled defiance before generating fits of rage-fueled outbursts. It happens. Churches are no stranger to this as the recent push to allow congregants to gather in NC has made its way through the court system. As a subscriber to historical Baptist ideals, I respect and staunchly support the idea of separation between church and state, but likewise, I also support the historic Baptist principle of soul-freedom, or the freedom to choose for oneself on matters of their faith. 

With all due respect to those who want to gather in their church's building, and pushed determinedly to achieve that, I think they spent their time asking the wrong questions. Rather than asking the government "why can't we gather," I believe the better use of their time would have been asking their congregations "when should we gather again?"Allow me to offer a few reasons that inform my thinking on this. 

1) In the Bible, Jesus doesn't describe the church as an entity that is defined by where it gathers. Rather, the church is defined by the sense of community that is fostered and the actions conducted by that body. The church of God is not and should not be beholden to a physical structure erected by humans. To say that Church is part-and-parcel to a space is to misconstrue the meaning of ekklesia, where we get the English word church. In short, ekklesia means "those who are called out." Followers of Jesus aren't called to a building. The buildings we gather in are simply a designated place that a community of called-out, like-minded believers has chosen to come together for worship, discipleship, and fellowship. The church building is a central meeting point, not the central tenant of who we are. 

As author and speaker John Pavovlitz noted in an 2019 article on Relevant Media's website, Jesus' teachings were concerned with building the Kingdom, not building buildings. He writes that "The Gospel biographies are filled with evocative, vivid parables, all about the Kingdom of God (Matt 13). They were Jesus’ central teaching. But this kingdom He speaks about is not a where (Matt 1:14-16) but a when...Jesus isn’t hiring Peter—a fisherman by trade—as a subcontractor to erect a building with a steeple. He only notes Peter’s devotion, and tells him to continue the Kingdom work he’d already begun. He is to steward the people of God: no building campaign, no weekly services." So being the church for Jesus means that we are to be a people called to bring about the tenants of God's kingdom into the world. We are called out to be agents of God's peace to our hurting world. We are no less the Church when we don't gather in a church. I'd dare say we are being more of who God needs the Church to be when we are challenged to be dispersed into our communities rather than huddled in the safe confines of our own facilities. 

2) Loving our neighbor has to take precedent. In Matthew 22 when Jesus was asked by the legal expert what was the greatest commandment, Jesus gave the simple answer of love God and love all of God's people. Everything else hangs on these two commandments. With any decision, both prior to COVID-19 and now pandemic and beyond, a guiding principle for faith leaders must be, "how can we love you well?" Specifically this looks like asking, "are the choices we are making demonstrating our love to you and are the steps we are taking in your best interest?" I'm not ignoring the love God portion, but remember that for Jesus, he said that the second command was like the first. For Jesus, when you love your neighbor, you are loving God. 

Now what this looks like will be different for each congregation for sure, and I am aware that there are some spaces that can accommodate social distancing for congregants who would come, and others that simply couldn't. What we are left wrestling with is this... does our sense of personal freedom supersede the command to love our neighbor? At least for my context, I don't think it does. I serve a predominately senior population, who after conducting surveys with them, it seems a small but meaningful portion of them likely wouldn't attend even if we opened and implemented strict distancing measures. This is a unique application of the "loving our neighbor" command, but haphazardly instituting a gathering that has a potential of harming one of your community members just doesn't seem to be living up to what Jesus is asking of us. For me, I love my congregants too much to run the risk of causing some of them to unnecessarily get sick. 

3) Lastly, God gave us the ability to discern good from evil, right from wrong, safety from uncertainty. In short, God gave us the wonderful gift of a brain, and it would behoove us to use them. The ability to discern, evaluate, and decide is what separates us from the rest of God's creation. We can take in information around us, process it, and then choose to make the wisest decision. Each community will be different, look different, and respond differently. There is no need to rush to return to gathering in public, as we are fortunate to live in a time where we are more connected than ever before. So, church leaders should feel relieved to know there is time to discuss and think critically about the pros and cons of what it would mean for your congregation to open back up. There have been far too many tragic stories of churches opening up, only to have to then close again because of outbreaks of the virus in their community. Brian Upshaw of the Baptist State Convention of NC captures it perfectly when he writes that "Churches should not rush to reopen just because a federal judge says they have the right. Nor should churches reopen just because our state has reached a particular phase in a reopening plan. Rather, the church should ask God for wisdom and make the best decision they can through prayer, study of the Word and the counsel of other believers."

Christ followers in America are fortunate to live in a land where we have the freedom to practice our faith openly without government sanctions or restraint because of our chosen religion (let's remember this was for all houses of worship, not just Christians). Knowing there are so many other places in the world where this is not the case, imparts an even greater responsibility for us to use that freedom wisely on the entire Church's behalf. We have an immense opportunity to show the world who we really are and lead by example. The Apostle Paul reminds us all in Galatians 5 that because of Christ we have freedom, but "don't let this freedom be an opportunity to indulge your selfish impulses, but serve each other through love" (verse 13). 

I love being with my church family at First Baptist Monroe, and I can't wait to high five them, hug, cackle and share funny stories together, and most importantly worship as a community. But because I love them so much, I am willing to postpone gathering together in person for their sake and the sake of our community. We are no less God's body of believers who gather under the auspices of First Baptist Monroe. Instead, I am actually excited to see what my sisters and brothers I love so much choose to do to truly be the Church beyond our walls, because the world is watching. What will we use that freedom to do? I pray that we will be the Church God has called us to be and that we will serve the Kingdom in bold and fresh ways!