By: Tom Bartlett, FBB Contributor

Before we leap from the high board into the deep end of the pool, let me offer a disclaimer on behalf of FBB. My opinions are my own and will doubtless ruffle some feathers. But the spines of believers should be made of sterner stuff than those who live with no grounding in truth. The only question that matters, then, is am I rightly applying biblical truth? If what I say diverges from scripture, which I know is not impossible, feel free to chastise me. But know this, I do not apologise for writing with urgency because I perceive a tide of events will soon sweep over the Christian world. Christians need to decide now where we stand. We owe it to a lost world to be a light in darkness, and that means we need to be certain our lamps are trimmed and burning bright.

Here's a summary of my current thinking two years after COVID first struck.

Churches should not have complied with lockdowns. Hebrews 10:25 reminds us of what we have always known–that we must not give up the habit of meeting together. There are no provisos that read “unless there is a pandemic” or “unless governments insist we obey.” The result of mass compliance to government shutdowns on the part of the churches is no longer unknown. Many who transitioned to “worshipping in place” are never coming back. Thus, church attendance has dramatically declined. To the extent churches moved online, communal worship and mutually encouraging discipleship suffered, while vital relationships withered. On the other hand, churches that remained open saw growth and, contrary to expectations, none were devastated by illness.
Romans 13 is not a blanket demand for compliance to the state. History reports that in periods of government imposed suffering and persecution, much growth has occurred. Every effort to dismantle the Lord’s church has both cleansed the church and led to a more flourishing faith. On the other hand, feckless complicity with tyranny has always led to forced secularisation and the criminalization of biblical Christianity. The Lamb of God suffered torture and crucifixion because he did not submit. But when he rose from the dead he could declare to His disciples: “All authority has been given unto me” (Mat. 28:18a).
The decision to conform was based on fear. But believers have no excuse for living in fear. There are 365 scriptural calls to “fear not.” Moreover, we are reminded in Scripture that we must fear God alone (Proverbs 9:10, Ecclesiastes 12: 9-14), not those who can kill only the body (Matthew 10:28; Luke 12:5). Since believers already know that life is temporary, a fear of death can only be a sign of weak faith.
Christians have no right to discriminate against others. Many have cited the commandment to “love our neighbour as ourselves” as justification to obey edicts to mask and get the jab. But God’s love is always an expression of true faith (I John 4:7). In the Christian world it is not love if it becomes an obligation imposed on others (Mat. 5:41). Think of the issue logically. If masking worked, then only those concerned about being infected need wear one. On the other hand, governments insisted everyone follow the mask mandate, proving the issue was control, not a concern for individual well being. Thus, I think believers who were willing to pay the price for standing for their God-given freedoms of religion and peaceful assembly deserve to be heard. To our shame, the record shows that those who did stand against universal mandates were given the cold shoulder by too many professing believers and churches.

GIVE TODAY!

I suspect that some of you are tempted to argue that at this point my concerns are moot. Have not our rights been restored? The short answer is, they have not. Shutdowns have only been partially suspended, not removed. Governments continue to insist they did not override the Charter of Rights and Freedoms improperly, and because so many churches meekly accepted every demand from the State, many relationships between brothers and sisters in Christ have been damaged beyond repair. Moreover, restrictions and incarcerations continue for many who did not submit. And several pastors–most notably in Alberta–still face legal charges for such crimes as “enticing people to come to church.” Even so, most churches continue to refuse to come to their defence.

In other words, the premise that the government owns our bodies has gone unchallenged. And the public still lives in fear, at least partly because Canadians saw the churches cower in submission. If churches do not strengthen their resolve, it will not be long before the government reinstates its presumptive powers and reclaims what can only be termed tyrannical authority.

Now that you know where I stand, to give greater context let me follow up with several questions.

If someone were to ask you what distinguishes your church in the defence of our God-given liberties, how would you respond?
Following COVID, how has your church acted to ensure that the mandate to be salt and light will never again be compromised?
Have you taken steps to show support for pastors and churches who face massive fines and imprisonment? Do you believe the churches that insisted on obeying Hebrews 10:25 behaved sinfully? If so, can you defend your position biblically?

Thinking back over the last two years I have perceived an interesting difference between Christians who argued they had a duty to comply with government mandates versus those who believed they had a duty not to comply. Those who supported the mandates showed, and in many cases continue to show apathy, if not actual antipathy, toward those Christians who do not share their view. Alternately, I have never met anyone opposed to the mandates who refused to fellowship with those who wear masks and are fully jabbed.

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