COVID-19 My Response as a Pastor in a Rural Community

I am sure that my comments here will make some people incredulous, or even down right angry and or offended.  Some will probably label me as reckless or uncaring.  To which I will reply c’est la vie.

We live in an age in which the promise of technology to make us more connected and bring us closer together has not lived up to it’s hype.  In fact some studies show that people feel more isolated then ever before.  I believe what it has given us is a freedom and sense of license to say anything we want and excuse us from making real personal connections by allowing us to say I have thousands of friends on Facebook and twice as many followers on Twitter and Instagram.

COVID-19 has caused mass panic and fear.  I am in no way a medical expert, but I say with reasonable confidence that the medical community doesn’t even know what it doesn’t know about COVID-19 yet. The virus is too new and what they don’t know is much greater then what they do know. 

We are afraid because our medical community has failed us in being able to inform us completely and fully about this new “threat” and offer us a cure.  The government is afraid.  The medical community is afraid.  Reason has been supplanted by fear and panic.  Listening to the news one would think it is the apocalypse, that the pale horse in Revelation has been unleashed upon us.

Paul reminds us of this in Romans 8 verses 15-17, “So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father." For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.” (Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.)

As believers in Christ we have nothing to fear.  Not even death.  Now this is by no means to say that we should actively seek death or go out and live life with no caution.  What it is to say is that we have no fear.  Even death should not make us fear.

Now that I have reminded us that we do not have a spirit that makes us slaves to fear, let me remind us that we are brothers and sisters, a faith community.  Our faith is built upon relationships, our relationship to God through Jesus His Son and our relationships to one another.  Virtual meetings are no substitute for strengthening our relationships.  Gathering together to worship is more then hearing the word preached, it is more then singing hymns together and praying together.  It is about being present together physically.

It is my belief that now more then ever is a time that we as believers should be gathering together to worship, to pray, to fellowship and encourage one another.  This does not mean that we should do so without caution.  We should take the same measures that we do any other time.  Wash our hands frequently, cover our mouths and turn our head when we sneeze and cough, stay home when we are ill or have been exposed to illness, these things we learned in kindergarten and often times need reminding of them.  I can’t even begin to tell you the number of times I have used the restroom in public places and seen men not wash their hands afterwards.

That said I do not believe that as a church we should stop meeting.  I believe that Satan is using this virus and the panic the news media is stirring up to strike at the heart of our faith communities, to drive us into greater isolation in which he can sow more seeds of fear and despair. 

My daughter Hannah said we could easily spread out more at church creating that “zone” of isolation and still meeting together.  I have thought about preaching several times on Sundays to be in compliance with the proclamation from the Governor concerning gatherings of more then 10 people.  My son Joshua told of a local pastor who is doing just that.

Later this evening we are meeting for Bible study in which we will discuss what to do about church.  My thought and plan for now is to open the doors of church this Sunday to whoever will come and I plan to continue doing that until I can no longer do so.