Although I discussed this very thing with several people when level 3 and 4 restrictions were first announced, I held back from publishing anything here because I had other commitments I felt obligated to fulfill first. I now wonder if that was a bad idea and if I perhaps should've given up a meal or a couple hours sleep to scrape together enough time to publish something here.
Throughout most of my lifetime New Zealand Christians have experienced a great deal of freedom to worship. We could attend church services whenever and wherever we wanted. We had free access to Bibles, books, and other publications--both online and from our local Christian bookstore. We could study our Bibles at a cafe or public park without fear of serious repercussions.
I fear we allowed our liberty to become opportunity for the flesh. We allowed ourselves to be captivated by the world's entertainments, choosing it's frivolities over strengthening our spiritual lives. For how many years have we neglected prayer and left our Bibles untouched on the shelf, or unopened on our phones?
When laws were passed that directly attacked the God we claim to serve, we looked the other way and screamed "SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE!!" if anyone questioned our inaction. Yet, when the government instructed every church in the country to close its doors, we forgot all thought of separation and rushed to obey, cheering the decision as we did.
"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." ~Hebrews 10:24-25
Doesn't the Bible also say to obey the government though? It does -- an important point -- but let's not forgot to check what else it says, or we risk running into problems. As my pastor has preached recently, it's important we learn Scripture in context and truly study it. Learning a single verse here and there leaves the door wide open for misinterpretation. In fact, right within its pages we learn that Satan tempted Jesus with Scripture by misapplying it.
"But Peter and the apostles answered, 'We must obey God rather than men." ~Acts 5:29
Modern Christians are quick to remind us that we can worship without a building. "Churches are empty, but so is the tomb," they say. At face value that seems like cute encouragement, but I'm not one to settle for face value. I got thinking about Bible heroes and wondered how their reasoning compared with ours today.
Remember
Daniel? The one who got thrown into the lion's den and had plenty of books and Sunday School lessons written about him? The high officials of his day didn't like him and looked for ways to get him in trouble. They knew he prayed by a window three times a day, so they got the king to make a rule forbidding this for thirty days. I can just imagine today's Christians giving Daniel advice after he heard the news:
"Close the curtains before you pray!"
"Just pray in a closet or your bed or the bathroom! You can pray anywhere, it doesn't HAVE to be at the window!"
"Daniel, we're told to obey our authorities! And God can see your heart without you needing to say anything. And besides, it's only for thirty days! Just DO AS YOU'RE TOLD!"
But Daniel didn't do any of those things. Far from it. Daniel 6:10 tells us: "When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously." (Emphasis added.) Had Daniel behaved otherwise our Bible today may have been an entire book shorter, and we never would've had one of our favourite and heroic stories.
Paul, one of the most well-known New Testament writers was tortured and imprisoned for the faith. Just the other day I read how one group of people he visited begged him not to go to Jerusalem, but to stay with them instead so he could avoid imprisonment. If he had agreed not to preach, or at least not controversial things, he could've lived an easier life. And our New Testament would be a whole lot smaller.
Moving forward, I'm curious to see how pastors will preach on many of these passages in Scripture. "These are cool stories but we should treat them as simply that. They don't really have anything to do with our lives today. Although the heroes of the faith risked their lives and reputations for Christ, that stuff was just for the past and has no relevance to us today. We should sit quietly in our homes and do exactly as we're told without ever questioning how legal, moral, or biblical the rules imposed on us are." (2 Timothy 3:16)
If we have reached a point where churches are inessential and merely social gatherings, then we're doing something wrong. Maybe we just need to repent of our rebellion and acknowledge that God's ways are truly higher than ours, or maybe we need to reconsider what church is even supposed to look like and how it should operate.
