One of the conundrums that Christian communities face in the middle of this pandemic is how state-mandated measures to protect public safety intersect with their internal life. This is nowhere more clearly manifested today than in the lockdown orders, stay at home mandates, and restrict public gatherings that dominate the public conversation. Many church leaders have bitterly opposed any restrictions on church gatherings, and some have argued that restrictions on public gatherings have been unfairly applied to churches, synagogues, and mosques. Part of the problem was the unfortunate and imprecise designation of certain public entities as “essential.” Those entities were given preferential treatment by the government when it came to restricting normal activities in response to the pandemic. The problem was that the government never clearly established the criteria for these essential entities. Because of that lack of clarity, essential was interpreted as important. Some religious leaders, arguing that they and their churches were important, demanded that they be designated as essential, thus deserving preferential treatment for gathering restrictions. It is also important to note that this argument was, somewhat ingenuously, couched in terms of religious freedom. In short order, the debate shifted from whether churches and pastors were essential to whether or not these restrictions violated the constitutional right to religious liberty. There are several observations to be made here. First, the church does not need secular validation. The church does not require a designation of essential to justify its role among its people. Second, our reason for gathering cannot be the gratification of the leader’s ego or the congregation. Third, we must remember that the purpose of the meeting is preparation to serve God and humanity. Some church leaders’ insistence that their communities gather despite the scientifically confirmed contagion of the virus brings us to the central theological question. Does God require the exposure of any of our congregants to the risk of contracting a contagious virus?
Constitutional Right vs. Christian Responsibility
A recent Supreme Court ruling affirming individuals’ rights to gather together (the freedom of assembly) provided some religious leaders legal ammunition in resisting restrictions on gathering. However, what has gotten lost in this debate is human suffering brought on by the pandemic and Christian responsibility in this context. How do we respond to the suffering and death brought on by the virus? The question of the state’s role in the pandemic cannot be answered using the language of rights but requires an exploration of Christian responsibility. What we ought to do cannot be determined by what we have a right to do. The Apostle Paul reminds us that while many things are lawful, the followers of Christ are called upon to do what is right. Jesus commands that we love God and that we love our neighbor as ourselves. A constitutional right is an individual possession, but our Christian responsibility reminds us of what we owe to God and others.
Getting Together in the Age of COVID
Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
This text has often been used to argue for the importance of regular church attendance. This text is not about skipping church or compelling church attendance. This text’s background is that the early Christian community has just emerged from a period of persecution that compelled those believers to support one another as much as possible. But after the persecution has subsided, some do not feel the same urgency to gather. The threat here in Hebrews is not that the government will prevent Christians from going to church but that we might forget the real reason for gathering together. This is the danger in basing our reason for gathering in a protest against government actions. The peril here is that if Christians gather to take a political position, then the gathering itself becomes simply a political gathering.
The real question is, for what purpose are we gathered? Are we coming together to flex our religious muscle in the face of secular authority? Are we showing the state that they cannot tell us what to do? If we indeed gather to affirm and proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord, we will face the political repercussions of that affirmation and proclamation. However, we cannot forget that Jesus calls us to embody love, justice, and mercy in our gathering.
We are left with the question with which we began. Does God require the exposure of any of our congregants to the risk of contracting a contagious virus? The answer, I believe, is no. When under the kind of existential threat posed by the COVID 19 pandemic, the people of God are called upon to move beyond the constraints of comfortable formalities. We are called upon to search out how and where God is moving in this moment.
A Lesson from the Black Church in Slavery.
When enslaved Africans desired to gather for worship, they often directly violated existing laws. But they did not gather to protest against the racist laws that prohibited their gathering. They gathered to worship the God whom they served. Therefore, they were not tied to any given place or time in their coming together. They would assemble in the woods in the middle of the night or their individual “prayer closets” if necessary. They neither desired nor sought secular affirmation of their gathering. They just wanted to worship God. In the current debates and controversies regarding lockdowns and limitations on gathering in worship houses, we can easily lose track of our praise’s true object, God. If God is the one to whom our praise is directed, then we can indeed worship online if necessary. God’s grace will not be diminished by the use of Facebook Live, or YouTube, or Zoom. God’s grace will not be confined to a singular physical space. Christian community is marked by “that love that flows from heart to heart and breast to breast.”
We hope and pray that we will move beyond this immediate moment of existential peril. Vaccines and improved treatments are very promising. But we must also not forget this moment in our national life. The tragedy of more than a quarter-million lost souls and counting will be felt for generations. But their loss can teach us what is most important about being community-centered in Christ. Numbers or location do not determine the church’s authenticity, but whether Christ is truly in the midst.
