My COVID Confession
As I begin laying out a defense of sustaining corporate worship through COVID, I want to disclose my own position toward the virus.
- I believe COVID exists and that it is occasionally fatal (1.75% nationally, 2.1% internationally, 3% locally). The fatality of the virus seems to be increased by other, underlying causes which makes the aged (obese?) more vulnerable.
- I believe the international response to the virus is being driven by panic instead of reason.
- I believe we are in an information crisis. Nearly all our sources of information are subject to skepticism. Major media outlets act only as a mouthpiece for Washington DC. Entities which question the “prevailing wisdom” are immediately silenced on all platforms. Whom to trust is becoming exceedingly difficult to decide.
- I believe there are odd irregularities in our approach to COVID. Why, for instance, is all flu data reported as “estimated,” but COVID data is firm and final?[1] Why were PCR tests and masks considered unreliable before COVID, but certain now?[2]
- I don’t believe masks and social distancing have had any measurable effect on the containment of the virus. Regions with severe lockdown measures have not fared any better than those with few measures. Many physicians have said that using masks to halt COVID is like trying to contain mosquitoes with a chain-link fence.
- I don’t know which has been more harmful to our society, COVID or the response to COVID. Time will tell.
- I don’t know if the vaccines are efficacious or safe. I am only willing to accept a vaccine once it has been proven safe for me and my family AND beneficial for defense against the virus. Neither of those proofs is available to us at this time.
- I believe the response to the virus has seriously strained the Christian worldview in light of God’s sovereignty, his appointment of seasons of affliction, and the importance of corporate worship.
- I believe COVID has exposed that most of us hope in this life more than the next.
INTRODUCTION
In Fall of 2019, rumors of a rapidly spreading virus in China were reaching US media sources. By Winter of 2020 and into Spring, the world was gripped by panic. The virus was spreading around the world and we wanted to combat it. COVID was our new war! Like all other institutions, congregations of the body of Christ began wrestling with their response. Many completely cancelled corporate worship for indefinite seasons. It is my view this was and is an error of grave consequence. In this paper, I will argue that church courts should sustain Lord’s Day worship except in the most extreme circumstances.
The men whom Christ has called to lead his church must do just that. To provide this leadership, they must keep the first things first. How do we honor Christ? How do we acknowledge and humbly submit to his sovereignty? How do we maintain faithfulness to the Great Commission? How do we exercise trust in Christ and model that trust for our flock? In other words, COVID provides a context to demonstrate the power and efficacy of God’s Word as we formulate a proper response. We are always tempted to fall back upon our finite understanding, to make decisions based on the prevailing earthly wisdom. In Christ, however, we are given confidence to stand firm in the face of all challenges. This is where we might rightly apply Paul’s words from Philippians, “I can do all things through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).[3]
First Reason: Worship is Christ’s Divine Right
To begin, we must remember that worship is the divine right of the Lord Jesus Christ. Corporate worship is not primarily man’s initiative, it is God’s. We worship because God calls us to worship. Worship is our obligation to the Triune God as Creator and King of the universe.
Further, worship – that is gathered, corporate worship – is the essence of life. This is not only true for the regenerate, but for the unregenerate as well. By his person and authority, God is owed worship by all humanity. The corporate church declares this fact to the earth every time she exercises faithfulness in gathered worship.
To illustrate this point, we remember the pinnacle of the creation week was the seventh day (Genesis 2:1-3). On that day, God demonstrated his reason for creating mankind: that they might dwell in communion with him through worship. We must, therefore, never treat participation in corporate worship as a “nice-to-have.” It is an essential. It is essential to personal and community well-being and should form the central activity of all the earth. It is as fundamental to humanity as breath. Therefore, we emphasize regular attendance at corporate worship strongly. It is an obligation of existence through which God communicates grace to us.
How can we so easily cast aside what is so essential to our existence? How does it affect our testimony before a watching world?
Second Reason: Seasons of Affliction are Ordered by God
Many circumstances such as persecution, natural disasters, and sickness challenge the regular gathering of God’s people for worship. They force us to answer the question, “How do we maintain faithful obedience to Christ through worship when the season is difficult?” I believe we must begin with the right perspective on affliction: it is appointed and administered by God.
God teaches us how to deal with the severest of calamities through Job. When Job’s children were killed and his possessions robbed and destroyed, he began with God. We do not find him asking why he didn’t build bigger fences or studying physics to prevent tornadic disasters. Instead, he centered his focus on the total sovereignty of an Almighty Creator. No, Job did not understand the why. He did, however, understand who!
The first response to seasons of affliction, then, is to remember that they come from the hand of God. God has determined exactly who will get COVID. He has determined who will die from it. He has determined who will be completely unaffected by it. This does not excuse us to treat mitigating factors flippantly. But it does teach us to live confidently in the kind providence of our Almighty God. It teaches us to obey him confidently when life is difficult.
In Amos 4, we find a people who did not consider this. Because of Israel’s sin, God had judged them. He had taken away their bread and rain. He had sent blight, mildew, and worms upon their crops. He sent Egypt-like pestilence upon them. He had overthrown their cities. “Yet,” even in light of all these judgments, God said, ” yet you did not return to me,” declares the Lord.” (vv. 6, 8, 9, 10, 11). The Israelite response to these “natural disasters” should have been two-fold. First, they should have acknowledged they were from God. And second they should have turned, or returned, to him.
Having humbled ourselves to accept affliction from God’s hand, we then remember he uses these for our good. Romans 8:28 reminds us, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Every event in human history is directed to the good of Christ’s church. Not even the gates of hell are able to prevail against his church. Every disaster, every plague, every famine can only strengthen those who are called by Christ.
Third Reason: Seasons of Affliction Make Worship More, Not Less, Necessary
When seasons of affliction are upon us, do we find worship more necessary or less necessary? What should we learn from Amos 4? In light of pestilence delivered by the hand of God, should we turn from him, or with all our might turn to him to seek his favor and deliverance? James teaches us the answer. “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray… Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him” (James 5:13, 14). The instruction to pray, both personally and corporately, are commands. The Christian’s instinct in his suffering of any type, and particularly in sickness, must be to pray. In other words, God intends these seasons of affliction to drive us to himself, not away.
David models obedience to James’ commands in Psalm 6, “O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O Lord—how long?” (Psalm 6:1-3). You must first notice that David ascribed his illness to the hand of God. He acknowledged that the grace of God would be the source of his healing. And, he accepted that his illness, in light of his personal sin, was deserved.
Because afflictions are God’s medicine to drive us to himself, we ought to view corporate worship as more needful in these seasons, not less. Commenting on 2 Corinthians 12:9, Thomas Watson wrote, “God sees humility to be better for us than joy. It is better to want comfort, and be humble, than to have it, and be proud.”[4] He noted that God often gives more grace to us in times of sickness.[5]
Fourth Reason: The Fear of God, not Death, Motivates Christians
Death is man’s mortal enemy. Early in life we are struck by the fact that life will end. Sickness and old age remind us our bodies are mortal (Ecclesiastes 12:1-8, 2 Corinthians 4:16). Illness and aging teach us to number our days (Psalm 90:12). But many men are enslaved by the fear of death. They exhibit this fear of death by gripping onto this life with sinful strength. They do all they can to insulate themselves from thoughts of death and from anything that might expose them to its risk. They are slaves.
Scripture teaches us Christ died to set his people free from slavery to the fear of death. The writer of the Book of Hebrews wrote, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery (Hebrews 2:14-15, emphasis mine). Christian maturity should be marked by a light grip on the present life and confident hope in the life to come.
Certainly, this does not mean Christians treat their lives wastefully. Christ would not throw himself from the temple, and neither are we to treat God’s promises and providence as some sort of cosmic bubble-wrap (Matthew 4:5-7). Christians, acknowledging God’s providence, make use of medical technology for healing – all the while acknowledging all healing comes from God!
However, no man should fear death more than he fears God. No man should excuse himself from obedience to God because he fears death. Earth’s ground is stained with the blood of men and women who would not fear death more than they feared God. And this must be the mindset of every Christian when he faces seasons of affliction. We face these times with the certainty that if our lives are taken, they are taken by God only. For, as Job stated, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).
Fifth Reason: Removal of Worship is a Ban, not a Cancellation
When church courts are deciding their response to calamity, they must consider to whom their decisions actually apply. I prefer to speak in terms of a “ban” on worship rather than of “cancelling” or “suspending” worship. I speak in these terms because, regardless of the environmental circumstances in which we find ourselves, many will still seek to attend worship. Regardless of hurricane, tornado, flood, icy road, or illness many find worship so important they will not be restrained from attending. I appreciate the stance taken by a former church when it was said from the pulpit, “If the minister can make it here to unlock the door, we will meet for worship.”[6]
Also, every individual in our body already has the opportunity to choose whether or not corporate worship attendance is in his best interest. We encourage sick members to observe the Lord’s providence and remain home. The decision to cancel corporate worship does not give them this option. They already have it. Therefore, to cancel or to suspend worship is specifically directed at those individuals who will continue to attend no matter what. It is to exercise the power of jurisdiction to keep them from worship. For these reasons, cancellation or suspension of worship is a ban. I am also comfortable with calling it a prohibition.
But the issue is some who attend worship may be putting others at risk. That is a risk also borne by those who choose to attend. As mature Christians, we recognize that every decision bears some risk. Trips to the grocery store bear some risk. When I venture out on an icy day, I recognize there is a risk of accident. I would never think of blaming the grocery store who opened on an icy day for causing my accident. I assumed the risk myself. Likewise, with reference to corporate worship, we always say, when you choose to attend, you are exercising that right of choice in light of every conceivable risk to your person.
Sixth Reason: Church Courts Model Decision Making for their Congregations
Attendance at corporate worship is in decline. It is clear that fewer professing Christians see worship as important to their walk with Christ. According to one poll, “In the last 10 years, the number of Americans who report they attend church services around once or twice a month declined by 7%.” Among Americans who profess faith, 7% more “report they attend church services less frequently” than did 10 years ago.
We must disciple our congregations in the area of corporate worship attendance. In light of the prevailing attitude of the culture,it seems wise to err against that attitude. Each time church courts choose to suspend worship, they only enforce the attitude that worship is unimportant and optional.
We must also consider how these decisions teach our congregation to think of life and death. Do our decisions build church’s confidence in the total sovereignty of a loving Lord? Or are we giving them the impression that God is impotent against sickness, war, or famine?As church courts make decisions, they must consider all their ramifications. The manner of decision-making is itself a means of discipling the congregation.
Seventh Reason: The Precarious Position of Chasing the “Experts”
As a final consideration, I would point out that COVID numbers do not suggest we are facing a real emergency. COVID is a real, deadly virus. It’s important, however, to evaluate this virus on a local level. There have been over 32 million cases of COVID in the US, but those cases have not all occurred in our city. In fact, it has been clearly documented that the virus is worse in some municipalities than others. Making a decision on an international, national, or even state-level, therefore, is not a good approach. We must look at the situation in our town.
Based on the county snapshot from July 24, 2021, Pike County has had a total of 3,583 cases of COVID, and 112 deaths.[7] Using this as an indicator, folks who catch COVID in Pike County have a 97% survival rate.[8] The county currently has a 12.0% positivity rate. This means roughly 12% of people who are tested for the virus return a positive result. The powers that be tell us that makes our situation “yellow,” because the positivity rate is over 10%. Since July 1, 2021, Pike County has added 319 new cases and 1 person has died. Since June 1, 2021, we added 357 cases and 6 deaths.
Using this information, which data point warrants cessation of corporate worship? Is the rate of infectiousness the concern? The 3% death rate? My suggestion is that, at the end of the day, the determination is almost purely arbitrary. We might say, “I feel concerned. I want to do something. Therefore, let’s cancel worship.”
What’s more, the action will have no meaningful, measurable effect on the spread of the virus in our community. It it will give a good feeling to some, but not to others. This is especially true when every other worshiping community continues to meet faithfully.
Conclusion
I’ll conclude by acknowledging I have not indicated any parameter that requires cessation of worship. I will admit I struggle to do so. I don’t think any conditions require it. It seems obvious to me that a fire in the building or a tornado bearing down on the town represent reasons to suspend worship. I am not willing, however, to say that the immediate threat of bodily harm is a reason. Why not? Because then how could I in good conscience face our persecuted brothers and sisters who continue to meet for worship when their lives are threatened daily?
It seems sensible to me to leave most of these determinations to the consciences of our people. By doing so, we don’t have to concern ourselves with virus statistics or the recommendations of experts. We don’t have to pretend to know more about the virus than we actually do. We can simply face this season of affliction with a bold confidence in the Lord and entrust ourselves to him.
May he be pleased with us as we seek to honor him.
[1] https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/why-cdc-estimates.htm, https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/index.html
[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/22/health/22whoop.html
[3] Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from the ESV.
[4] Thomas Watson, A Body of Divinity: Contained in Sermons upon the Westminster Assembly’s Catechism (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1986), 76.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Carl Robbins, pastor, Woodruff Road Presbyterian Church, Simpsonville, SC; http://www.woodruffroad.com
[7] https://msdh.ms.gov/msdhsite/_static/resources/15167.pdf
[8] This number should be taken as an estimate since not all COVID cases are captured and some are mis-diagnosed.
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