The church, at its best is an incredibly diverse collection of people; men and women, “circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarians, Scythians, slaves and free.” These diverse people are given diverse gifts. There are prophets and preachers, teachers and prayer warriors. Then these diverse people, with diverse gifts are called into diverse roles within the church– eyes and ears, hands and feet. This all sounds very nice, after all “diversity is strength” but, diversity is often difficult. Pretty soon the diverse people are butting heads over all kinds of issues from who gets to stand at the front of the line at the church potluck to important theological issues like what’s going to be on the menu at the church potluck. I’m not even halfway joking! One of the debates that seized the early church was about what Christians could and could not eat. Two thousand years later it’s easy to roll our eyes about it but, the conflict had cultural and religious roots that made it serious.
Paul wades into this conflict in his letter to the Romans but, not in the way that we might expect. Oh, he certainly believes that one side understands things better than the other but, that doesn’t give them the right to force their opinion or even their freedom on others. They are to “Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you” (Romans 15:7). What Paul is getting at is made quite clear by the context. In Christ, believers have the freedom to eat whatever they want but, that freedom needs to be exercised with great love. Nobody gets to sit down at the table, plate loaded with what a brother cannot eat and snicker at the other’s weakness. Nobody gets to look at what her brother is eating and judge his faith. Do not judge, do not despise but, love.
As I look forward to the day when we gather together again, I also know that there will be some difficulties that come with it. We have all adopted different opinions and approaches to Covid-19 and the accompanying protocols. Perhaps we could label some as weak. You are concerned with the potential spread of the virus. You sing the alphabet while you wash your hands. You wear a mask. You get a little nervous just going to the grocery store. Those nerves might be for your own health or for the health of someone that you care about. We might label some strong. You have no concern about the spread of the virus. No mask for you! Maybe you wash your hands less than before, just to make a point. And anyways God will take care of you. The temptation for the weak is to judge the strong. “Don’t they understand the risk they’re taking?” “Don’t they understand that they could make others sick?” The temptation for the strong is to despise the weak, “I’m glad I’m not as fearful as them.”
Perhaps we can carry Paul’s solution forward into the twenty first century. “Welcome one another as Christ welcomes you.” In Romans, Paul asks the strong to carry the bulk of this load, urging them not to grieve a brother by what they eat (14:15). Here too, the strong can choose to exercise their freedom in ways that either tear down or build up their brothers and sisters. By their actions they might make others feel unwelcome, even afraid to come to church. So here’s the deal, even if you’re sure that no virus can harm you, wash your hands and keep your distance. Don’t worry, nobody will think you're weak. We’ll just be thankful you laid your freedom aside to make the rest of us feel more welcome.
Are We Just Chicken?
In the past week I’ve tried to answer a couple of questions from people who are wondering if the church is simply acting out of fear by following the guidelines put in place by the government. If we were really faithful, wouldn’t we be gathering together, shaking hands and singing without masks? So, before you write us all off as a bunch of lily livered cowards here are a couple of things to keep in mind.
The restrictions that prevent us from filling our church buildings are not persecution. We know this because we are not the only group facing them. My son’s soccer season was cancelled, my daughter’s volleyball season came to a screeching halt and my neighbours are working from home.
Scripture calls on us to respect governing authorities (Romans 13:1). Yes, I know there are also times when we must choose to “obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). Wisdom is knowing which time we are living in!
Scripture says we are to meet together (Hebrews 10:25). It also says we are to love our neighbours (Leviticus 19:18). When our meeting together puts our neighbours at risk, it is loving to take the exceptional step of cancelling our gatherings.
Not meeting together is a way of bearing witness to our community. An empty parking lot tells our neighbours that we care enough about them to give up something that is important to us.
In humility, we admit that we are not the experts. Yes, we have access to google and a friend of a friend shared something really good on Facebook but, that doesn’t make us experts. Because we are not experts it is reasonable to place a degree of trust in those who have done the study. They are not infallible but, we allow their words to carry an appropriate weight.
It’s only Sunday morning that’s changed. I miss Sunday mornings. I miss them so much that I have had to collect myself after seeing familiar faces in our online service but, Sunday morning is only a part of what the church does. You are still free to read Scripture, to pray, to bless our neighbours and to preach the good news!
I’m looking forward to the first Sunday when our building is full. I’m praying for that day to come soon. I hope you miss our gatherings too but, don’t feel guilty because we can’t gather.