SOME
THOUGHTS ON PUBLIC CHURCH SERVICES
DURING THE PANDEMIC
Pastor Paul Stepp
Indore WV
04.12.2020
“I was glad when they
said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.” (Ps 122:1)
King David was glad to go into the House of the
Lord. The opposite of glad is sad. I am sad today on this Lord’s Day, at least with regard to the lack of
public worship in many of the Churches of God in America. In our Church, we are
still conducting Church services, but the number of attendees is very low. It
is sad to see so many of the Lord’s Churches either with
diminished attendance or who have altogether shut down their Public Worship
Services on the Lord’s Day. I know we are in
a difficult time, and a time of uncertainty. But, at least here in WV, we are
not forbidden by the government to conduct our Public Worship Services.
Legally, we are not even limited in the number of attendants.
And yet, many Churches are shutting their
doors. (I wonder, if we would need the governments permission to gather
together in other places and times? I wonder if previous generations of God’s people were worried about social peer
pressure?) While the government and society asks us nicely – and in some
places, not so nicely – the Lord’s Churches are meekly
and docilely shutting the doors to our Church houses, and bringing to a halt,
what the Bible strictly commands us – “Let us hold fast the
profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not
forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but
exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. For
if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth,
there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for
of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that
despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how
much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden
under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant,
wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit
of grace?” (Heb 10:23-29)
I wonder, are we doing the right thing? Should
we be ceasing to function as a public assembly, and adopt, instead, a sort of
virtual or quasi-assembly, like so many of our Churches are doing? Or should we
meet in the parking lots of our Church Buildings and pray, sing, and study the
Word of God from our vehicles, instead of meeting together, where voices can be
heard united in the praise of God? Does Facebook or YouTube count as an
acceptable substitute for the public assembly of the Churches of Jesus Christ?
These are questions that God’s people, and good
Baptist Churches are asking and trying to answer. To be honest, I have always
considered our Facebook or YouTube ministry as a means to reach the lost – or,
as a means to be an encouragement to other saints of God, in places other than
ours; perhaps some shut-ins, or some who are on the mission field, or Churches
and people in other lands. The Church Members of the Indore Church should be at
the actual, live Church services; the recording of the Facebook or YouTube
videos ought to be experienced live and in person by the Church member, except
in the cases when sickness or some other legitimate cause interferes with the
personal participation of the Worship service. In fact, Church services in
general – the Public Assemblies on the Lord’s Day – are designed and mainly intended to be
of benefit to the existing Church. This is the place and the time where we
gather together to pray, to worship God, to sing songs, to learn of Him and His
Word; to encourage, teach, rebuke (if necessary); to comfort one another, and
to generally bask in the Goodness and Grace of our God and Saviour; to meet
together with our Lord, to rejoice in the Spirit of God, and to worship in the
presence of the Angels. Nearly all of these qualities and benefits are lost in
the remote or virtual participation of some Church service.
The question that I have is this: When are the
Churches (who have ceased holding public services) going to open up their
services again? Are we waiting on the President to open the economy? Are we
waiting for the virus to go away? Are we waiting on a vaccine? Are we waiting
for social peer pressure to permit us to gather together? I can tell you now,
that if/when the President “opens the economy” (so to speak), the state governments and the local
governments may or may not go along with the President’s determinations. Many governments of men in
our day and age, will be more than happy to take the opportunity to impose
lengthier or more strict measures to prevent the congregations or Churches from
gathering together - stricter measures than what they will impose on other
institutions or events. Since we have so graciously and peacefully granted them
our permission, they will most happily continue to prohibit Church services –
whether through actual laws, or through a social peer pressure – as long as God’s people will continue to play along. When are
the Churches going to open up again? If we wait for a vaccine, it may be many
months, or even a year. If we wait for the virus to go away, I am afraid we may
wait forever.
I know the times are uncertain, but I believe
we must continue to conduct our services, and implement cautions and logical
procedures as necessary, to prudently address the health issues that we face.
As for the Churches that have closed their services, whenever you open them up
again (if you do open up again before a vaccine is developed and deployed), you
are going to be in exactly the same state as now: The virus is still out there;
your members could still catch it; sickness is still our enemy, and our bodies
(because of sin) are still frail and prone to disease and destined for death.
The only thing you have accomplished, is you have aided the government and
society’s plan to “flatten the curve” -
and even this might not be entirely true, given the number of people who are
still active in our society at large. This might help in accomplishing some
social or medical goal for the community in general. But when you come out of “quarantine” you haven’t changed a thing as
far as your own personal situation is concerned. You are going to be exposed to
the same viruses, germs, and other harmful elements that you were exposed to
before you went into home confinement. Maybe there will be fewer germs or
viruses around, because people have been somewhat more likely to stay home – at
least there might be fewer people out and about now as compared to the time
before the stay-at-home edicts were issued. But, relatively quickly, we will be
right back where we were before with germs and viruses and sicknesses and
accidents and injuries all around us – and what will we do then? Are we going
to go into hiding every time a virus or sickness gains the upper hand for a
while? Every time the media, the medical community, or the government tells us
to hide, are we going to shut down our services? In WV, at least, it is still
legal to publicly worship in the House of God. Even if it wasn’t legal in the eyes of the government or
society, would it be right in the Sight of God to cease and desist our duties
to Worship and Serve in the House of God?
I know many will accuse me of being incautious,
insensitive, or even downright dangerous to our current situation. But I
disagree. In my daily secular work I am considered an essential worker (who
would have ever thought it?). So, I go to work every day. And, for me, it is
business as usual. Of course, I implement every reasonable precaution. I
constantly make use of sanitizer and soap while I am out in the public. I try
to maintain some physical space between myself and others. But, because this
job provides a portion of my living, I remain at work, travelling from retail
location to retail location, performing repairs and maintenance on the retail
facilities as needed. And, I can tell you now, that the so-called quarantine or
stay-at-home orders that have been issued, haven’t changed the situation at these retail
establishments in the least – not in WV! In fact, without doubt, the large
retail establishments are doing more business now, then they were before the
virus captured the attention of a Nation. I see and come into contact with more
people now, than I did before the corona-virus. In some of these retail stores,
there are hundreds of people gathered under one roof, at any given time, with
cars lined up in the parking lots, and vehicles queued up at the gas stations.
The drive thru restaurants seem to be doing a brisk business. (I wonder who all
is touching your food before it is passed to you through your open window?)
Somehow, this is all deemed safe, acceptable, and even essential business. So,
tell me, is it OK to practice your rights, and participate in “essential” business
such as grocery shopping, trips to Walmart, outdoor exercise, restaurant
purchases, or trips to visit your neighbors or family members – but it is wrong
or unacceptable or “not essential” to come to the Church House on the Lord’s Day? If we are so concerned about the
corona-virus – but it doesn’t keep us from “essential” jobs or
shopping trips and even many other activities – why don’t we implement the same precautions at the Church
House? If the elderly or otherwise “at risk” persons don’t want to come to the Church Services, then, by
all means, stay home. Maybe these “at risk” persons are the prime reason for
live-streaming our services today. If a Church Member feels sick, or
demonstrates symptoms related to the virus, then, by all means, stay home.
These are legitimate reasons to stay away from others – not just to stay away
from Church. (I don’t know that being “afraid of getting
sick,” falls in the same classification of “actually being sick.”)
If the Church Members are concerned, then, by all means, keep the recommended 6’ physical space between the members; have plenty
of sanitizer on hand; practice good hygiene and be considerate of one another’s health. If the area you are in limits the
number of people who are gathering – and you want to submit to their demands –
then, why not hold services in degrees, limiting the number of congregants in
each assembly? After all, these are some of the things that we are doing in our
daily lives, and it is somehow sufficient for us to continue to work, to shop,
to exercise, to travel, to visit relatives. I think it is hypocritical to adopt
these safe practices in public and private lives, but reckon them insufficient
or inappropriate in order to continue our Church Services. The world’s reasoning is that these Church services don’t add anything to the economy – these Church
services (to them) are “non-essential.” In fact, most of the world would probably lump
Christianity public Church services into the same category as “entertainment.” (Sadly,
much of Christianity may give proof to the lie that Church services are nothing
more than entertainment.) But, to Baptist Churches all across this country, and
the people of God wherever they are, our Church Services are not “entertainment,” they
are not “non-essential.” Rather, our Church Services are “essential” – we are
about the “essential” business of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!
Isn’t it just the world that would reckon that
these “safe” practices or behaviors that are adopted, and these strict measures
that are taken to allow folks to go to work in this pandemic environment, are
adequate in the “essential” business of the world; but these same practices and safe
behaviors would be impractical, unsafe, dangerous, and imprudent when it comes
to the “non-essential” business of Church Public Worship? From personal
experience, in my place, and in my living, I would dare to say that a person is
exposed to far more harm, or potential for harm, through one trip to a large
retail establishment, then in multiple trips to the Lord’s House, where God’s people and brothers and sisters in Christ can
practice better social distancing and demonstrate better hygiene and show
better care for one another, than can any number of strangers gathered together
in a retail establishment, or any group of workers gathered together in a work
place.
I urge you, Churches, to consider your
reactions to the pandemic. Shouldn’t we even now be
seeking God’s Face –
if it were possible, even more than we were before? Maybe the Churches should
be open this Lord’s Day – with the people
demonstrating the same mortal and physical cautions as they do in the “essential” workplaces –
with holy hands lifted to Heaven, beseeching God for His favor, and for His
mercy on this Nation, and for His grace to save the sinners.
“Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them,
and I will praise the LORD: This gate of the LORD, into which the righteous
shall enter.” (Ps 118:19-20)