California shut down churches again for at least 3 weeks. During the 3 weeks, the Department of Health will assess the impact of churches on COVID spread. Until the Department of Health gives them an okay for reopening, churches must implement strict guidelines and only reopen after being approved for opening by their county health department.
This episode discusses Four reasons Christians are going along with church closings and why these rationalizations are abdicating our first amendment right to freedom of religion.
Listen here or scroll down to read.
Perpetual excuses for closing churches is a violation of the 1st amendment. And yes, every state MUST abide by the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights. States don’t get to make up rules that violate the U.S. Constitution.
Let’s take a look at that first amendment:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Ironically, the people I hear advocating for church closings are actually Christians! Let’s take a look at Christian rationalizations for acquiescing to the infringement of our 1st amendment rights.
Rationalization #1: No one can stop us from worshipping. We can just worship in our homes. I don’t need a church to worship in.
First, you’re right. No one has the right to stop you from worshipping in your homes. And while I have enjoyed worshipping at home, gathering with other believers is a core component of faith. It’s important to me and to a lot of other Christians.
Elder David A. Bednar warned there is a danger in limiting a religious organization’s right to gather.
“Gathering, in short, is at the core of faith and religion. Indeed, if the faithful are not gathering, sooner or later they will begin to scatter. And because gathering lies at the very heart of religion, the right to gather lies at the very heart of religious freedom.” (COVID-19 Crisis—A Wake-Up Call for Religious Freedom)
David A. Bednar
Rationalization #2: God’s in control. It’s all according to prophecy. Or God won’t let anything bad happen to us.
Yes, God is in control and most of what has been happening has been prophesied. That doesn’t mean we stand idly by and throw away our religious liberties.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Edmund Burke
I believe we will be held accountable for what we do now. “To whom much is given, much is required,” said Jesus (Luke 12:48). We have been given much in this country. If we throw it away because we are afraid, because there is a virus, we are slothful servants. We are as the foolish servant who buried his talent in the ground because he was afraid. Our “talents” in this case are our God-given rights! if we bury our inalienable rights in the ground because we’re afraid, we will be held accountable for it. Jesus called this person a wicked and a slothful servant (Matthew 25:14-30).
Rationalization #3: Nothing can stop the Word of God. They couldn’t stop it in Jesus’ day, and they can’t stop it now.
I am not concerned about the gospel dying off, or that we can’t worship in our homes, or that we can’t keep God in our hearts. I know that in the end, God wins. Satan is defeated. My concern is what side am I on? Am I on the side that wants to destroy religious liberties or hand them over without a fight? Am I on the side that wants to keep the gospel from spreading and healing lives and hearts through the power of Jesus? Am I such a chicken that I would stand idly by while our hard-won freedoms are destroyed and taken from future generations? I’m concerned about our Divinely inspired Constitution and the Bill of Rights being hacked to shreds.
You don’t think anything bad can happen to your religious liberties? You think God is going to protect you? When you don’t do your part to protect what God has given you – when you don’t value it – and you treat it like it’s nothing, then don’t expect God to come in and do for you what you ought to be doing for yourself.
Try living in China and being a Christian or believe in God in any way. Try living in China and advocating for basic human rights. You’ll be rounded up, tossed into a concentration camp, and have your organs harvested while your heart is still beating! (Find out what’s happening in China in When the Plague Arrives)
We either draw a line in the sand and protect our rights now or our grandchildren and great grandchildren will be worshipping in secret at the peril of their lives.
Rationalization #4: So many outbreaks have happened in churches, it is just not safe to reopen them.
What about those “outbreaks” that happen in churches? First, the media shows you and tells you what they want you to hear. They give a lot of airtime to infections that happen because of churches or choirs. Name one case of someone catching COVID at a Walmart? A Home Depot?
Crickets.
It’s amazing how smart this virus is that it can’t spread in a Walmart or a Home Depot, but churches don’t seem to have the protective bubble that a big box store has.
But for arguments’ sake, let’s say churches are a hotbed of viral puss. Who says churches can’t take precautions? If Walmart and Home Depot can safely open, then so can our churches. In my church here in Northwest Georgia, we sit every other row, don’t sing or use hymnals, wear masks, and the Lord’s supper (sacrament) is passed in a way where no one touches anything another person has touched. There are only two entrances into the building and three exits out. The building is cleaned thoroughly after every use. We have up to 99 people in attendance. More meetings can be added throughout the day after proper cleaning.
It’s possible to allow churches to remain open and still be safe about it. Giving churches no choice in the matter at all is a violation of our 1st amendment rights.
It’s time we stood up for our God-given rights … the rights millions have fought, bled and died to give us. Imagine, for a moment, that we stand up to the tyrants now while we still can. History will look back on this time of threats to our Bill of Rights and thank us for standing strong and loud and advocating for our rights. We will be viewed as Martin Luther King and his followers who stood up for civil rights. We can do this in a peaceful way just as he did. But let us not remain silent. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty. Standing for our liberty is standing for God.
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