In our series of blog posts so far, we have looked at the innate meaning behind the word “Church” in Part I. In Part II, we looked at the similar theme that exists even among the disparate ecclesiologies classically labeled “High Church” and “Low Church” and how churches all along the spectrum of tradition communicate something in their gathering. In Part III, we looked at where Mission Fellowship falls on this spectrum and why we feel that our stance has biblical backing. All of this may have been good information for you to read, and it may have even given you a stronger belief in the necessity for the gathering of the local church. But you might still be saying that there is one piece of information that we have not yet addressed: that of the risk that is posed by gathering…the risk to oneself, and perhaps even more concerning, the risk to others if we are asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19. The question might be phrased like this: “Why would we continue gathering if we could unknowingly pass COVID to one of the more vulnerable populations in our church? Why not pause gathering until there is some kind of solution in place, such as a vaccine? These questions are deeply important, and not to be dismissed, and so I hope this post will be helpful in again providing material to ponder as you make your own decision on gathering with the body.
In most helping roles, such as medicine, mental health counseling, or pastoral care, ethics is a very important topic in which academic institutions train potential practitioners. One of the topics covered in that broad category of ethics is that of nonmaleficence. This is a fancy term for the imperative to “do no harm” to those you are trying to help. Some of you might be acquainted with this idea in the Hippocratic oath in which the medical practitioner promises to “do good, or do no harm.” Usually we pursue the help of medical or mental health practitioners with the desire that they will help us, not harm us. Many laws and checks and balances have been put in place to assure that good, not harm, is the outcome.
Even with that being the case though, both the practice of medicine and mental health have innate within them the possibility that harm could occur, even with the best checks and balances in place to mitigate the possibility of that harm. This is why many surgeries require the surgeon to alert the patient that there are possible negative outcomes. This is why even in the practice of mental health counseling, most counselors state in their intake paperwork a statement of personal disclosure which says, in part, that for some, counseling can be harmful. One study that I recall says that about 10% of mental health clients show no response to therapy, 5-10% of adults deteriorate in therapy, 15-25% of children and adolescents deteriorate in therapy, and only 40-60% of clients improve. The rest simply stay the same. In these cases where there is a possibility of risk, we have to evaluate the risk versus reward of engaging or not. It is the question of what one’s risk level might be.
For example, let’s ponder the treatment of cancer patients that have been given a terminal prognosis. I have unfortunately been involved closely with this topic because multiple people in close relationship to me have had to battle cancer. I am not a medical expert at all, but what I have observed as an uneducated bystander is that when faced with the known risk of letting cancer go unabated, people facing death are willing to undergo the risk of certain types of therapy such as chemotherapy, that may also do them great harm. And yet, the possibility remains that that same treatment may also help them by ridding their body of cancerous cells to such an extent that they may move into remission. In this case, the possible reward definitely outweighs the possible risk. I have also seen, though, cases where people that are near the end of their life expectancy, and close to hospice care for a myriad of reasons, choose not to engage a therapy that would put their body through even more pain. In these unfortunate and somber cases, these individuals that I know chose to forego therapy in order to have some level of peace in their final days. In these cases, the possible reward did not outweigh the possible risk. It comes down to risk versus reward.
Now this is where the debate gets very tense because we need to ask what the risk might be around gathering as a church in the midst of COVID. Based upon the number of statistics that I have seen for myself and that others have communicated to me, there are statistics that can say pretty much any opinion you want to have about COVID and all of its associated issues. This is why cable news clips can be seen with people from opposing viewpoints yelling at each other that their view is based on “science.” Each of you, I am sure, has found statistics that you can provide that back your opinion on how “risky” COVID might be to you and anyone else. Each of you can provide evidence as to your opinion on mask wearing, or not. As we look at the data that exists, which is still changing regularly because it is so early in the existence and effect of COVID, we need to be aware of our tendency to look up only sources that confirm what we already believe. This is commonly called “confirmation bias” which is defined as “the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one's existing beliefs or theories.” In addition to that, many of the sources that are commonly looked to, such as various social media platforms, intentionally disseminate material that matches with what you have looked at before in order to hook you and keep you. In other words, you are engulfed in confirmation bias more than you probably know.
But back to the question…what is the risk associated with COVID? Unfortunately, I am not the expert to answer that question for you. I would encourage you to find your own peer-reviewed and thoroughly vetted sources as well as to read sources that have differing views. But as your elders, this is not our area of expertise. As we have declared throughout the last year, we are not the ones to make public health declarations. We rely on others who are knowledgeable to provide that information.
Once you find your data, you have a decision to make. What I want to submit to you is that it has to do with more than just the risk to your physical health or the physical health of others. It also has to do with the mental, emotional, and spiritual health of yourself and others. And this is where we as elders have had to balance the tension between caring for the local church body in both the physical and the spiritual capacity. Remember that earlier point about “doing no harm?” Just as it would be pastoral malpractice to put our church in immediate and obvious physical danger that would harm you, it is just as much pastoral malpractice to put the church in obvious spiritual danger that would harm you.
In other words, as Christians, we think in both temporal and eternal ways. It is extremely important that we do not let the temporal outweigh the eternal, or the physical outweigh the spiritual. Jesus was trying to communicate a similar point when he said in Matthew 10:28, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Let me give you a personal example. In the past, when I have traveled to Burkina Faso in West Africa, I have had to weigh the risk versus reward. In the cases where I traveled, I talked with my wife, with the elders, and took time in prayer, and ultimately decided to go. This was decided even though there were threats like various communicable diseases, the threat of potential terrorism or kidnapping, and the lack of medical care in many places. The last time I went was during the Ebola pandemic in Liberia, a country just west of Burkina Faso. Just as a reminder, Ebola, in general, has a fatality rate of upwards of 50% with some outbreaks varying from between 25% to 90% fatality if caught according to the World Health Organization. This was a major concern, but the possible reward of spreading the gospel, training pastors, and watching the Kingdom of God increase in West Africa outweighed this possible threat in my mind and in the minds of those from whom I sought counsel. In this case, I weighed the risk, understood the importance of my being present, prayed and trusted the sovereignty of God, and went to West Africa.
In terms of the concern with the current COVID pandemic and the associated restrictions, we as elders have had to similarly look at the possible physical risks associated with COVID and weigh them against the possible spiritual risks to each individual member of our body and our gospel proclamation as a whole. The reason we felt comfortable pausing our gathering early on and meeting remotely, and the reason we have employed the CDC restrictions we have currently is that we were taking the information we had at the time and doing our best to physically protect our flock. As time has gone on, we have gained more and more data around the statistical probability of catching COVID with proper restrictions in place, as well as the statistical fatality rate in our local community. This is important information and we do not, in any way, declare that we know all, but we have done our best to take that all into account. Performing certain restrictions to mitigate risk so that we can still meet and stay in submission to governing authorities as the Word of God calls us to is an easy way to be obedient to Christ and practice what has been deemed as helpful in fighting the spread of COVID while also gathering.
As we have been weighing the possible physical risk, we have also been weighing and observing the spiritual risk. We praise God for His grace and protection for our church and the individuals within it. We have been beyond blessed in many ways in comparison to other churches across the globe. At the same time, we have seen widespread isolation and disconnection in the midst of greater stress. For many, this has resulted in greater anxiety and depression, feelings of loneliness, and suicidal ideation. Some have fallen prey to old addictions and sinful patterns, some marriages have been stretched to the point of breaking, individuals have walked away from faith, and many are struggling in their faith and walk with Christ. This is a clear and present danger that cannot be dismissed as less important than the potential physical risk of meeting together. We have especially noticed what is also being reported in the secular news at large that this is greatly affecting our children. This is part of the reason why we have tried to open up more and more options for students in our church to have fellowship with CDC guidelines in place. We are sure none of this has been done perfectly, but we have tried to strike a balance.
Now you might say that a regular gathering of believers is not enough to fight these dangers. But many in our congregation would disagree and have verbalized it to us as elders. Our church has grown in the knowledge of how important the weekly gathering is in each of our lives. Gathering together regularly and being part of regular fellowship provides a level of spiritual health to the individuals in a church that cannot be underestimated. Virtual connection over the internet or phone is hard pressed to provide the same level of neural and relational stimulation that seeing one another in person produces. In addition, based on all I have already stated in previous posts, I can guarantee that it does not produce the same level of spiritual connection either. Regular meeting provides a level of connection that shows that you are not alone in your heartache and gives encouragement that there is unity, even in tribulation. Regular meeting provides a reset beyond what can be provided in a livestream over your computer to remind you that you are part of a greater congregation of believers, and while your faith may be strained, the gates of hell will never prevail against the faith of the church. Regular meeting provides a requirement of check-in and accountability that keeps conviction strong in our hearts and draws us to a regular practice of confession and repentance. It is easy to hide in the quiet of isolation and that is exactly where the enemy wants you to flounder in your faith. Gathering together is a way for God to provide the gift of fellowship, empathy, and love to His children. Even with masks, social distancing, and elbow bumps, being in one another’s presence, singing to and with one another, checking in on one another, provides a spiritual medicine that I fear we have greatly underestimated. A recent article at The Gospel Coalition speaks to this very same idea.
In Ephesians 4:11, Paul speaks of God “giving,” as if they were gifts, leaders with certain talents to the church. In Romans 12:3-8 and in 1 Corinthians 12-14, Paul discusses “gifts” that are given to the church through the talents of its members. It is a biblical truth that each one of us in a local gathering of saints is given to the other saints as a gift of God. What a sad thing it is when we discount our own value in that equation and what a sad thing it is when we discount others value in that equation. We all need one another in ways far beyond a gathering, but a regular gathering of saints seems to be the baseline from which that additional care comes. Our church is richer for it when all of its members and attendees gather to encourage, exhort, and bless one another. Our church struggles and suffers when any part of it struggles with isolation and loneliness.
At the date of this writing, with all humility and constant requests to God for wisdom beyond ourselves, the elders of our church have come to the conclusion that we do indeed need to mitigate the physical risk of gathering together by following the guidelines given to us. We do so to protect the vulnerable among us. We recognize that many of you disagree with the restrictions and whether or not they will even mitigate risk, but at this point, it is what we can do to show love and care for one another over and above ourselves. It is a way for us each to lay down our lives for the vulnerable amongst us. Certainly this is the heart of Christ. And even though it breaks our heart that we cannot gather as one unified body at one time, we have yielded to the need for two services instead of one. We have done all these things to mitigate the risk to our physical selves, knowing that even full isolation would not provide full protection.
But as the situation surrounding the COVID pandemic has gone on far longer than we hoped, we have also realized that there is a desperately growing need to protect our flock spiritually and to mitigate the risk to each of you in your emotional and spiritual health, not to mention your eternal state. This balance has been struck by the church throughout the ages as it has encountered pandemics and plagues. I love this quote attributed to Martin Luther in the midst of the health emergency of his day as Plague ravaged Europe:
“I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance inflict and pollute others and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me however I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely as stated above. See this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.” - Martin Luther
And so each of us must come to that same conclusion where we balance the tension between mitigating physical risk with mitigating spiritual risk. Taking precautions, but not withdrawing to such an extent that I abandon the need of others. For many in our body, and I would argue possibly even for those that have stayed isolated thus far, that need is to safely gather in fellowship.
To help you balance the physical and spiritual, I want to conclude with some questions for those of you who are yet to return to the gathering in some capacity. These apply regardless of what your convictions are for not returning to the gathering:
In what ways have you seen the fruit of the Spirit or the work of the flesh exposed during your time of isolation? Based upon your answer, how would you rate your current spiritual health?
How are you doing in practicing your spiritual disciplines through which you seek Christ? How has isolation helped or hindered these?
Do you currently feel connected or disconnected to the body of Christ? What part do you believe isolation has played in this?
In what ways does your current stance and activity show love for the body in the desire to mitigate both physical harm and spiritual harm for them? Is your response balanced in the two?
If you have read through these blogs and asked the above questions in true sincerity and humility, and you still arrive at a place where you feel full conviction that staying away from the gathering is the best thing for you and the body, we absolutely want to respect that. We know that for some of you, because you exist in a demographic that is at high risk for great harm from COVID, this is a far weightier decision than for others in our body. If that is you, we want you to know we love you, we miss you, and we are praying for a solution to this pandemic that will pave the way for your return to regular fellowship. At the same time, we would highly suggest you hold your conviction without trying to enforce it on anyone else. Each of us must be convinced in our own mind and conscience. For anyone else who does not fall into those highly vulnerable groups, we want to lovingly invite you back to the gathering.
Regardless of where you stand on this issue, we all stand united in The Gospel and look forward to and pray for the day when Christ removes all barriers from full fellowship and unity before the throne of God. May the Lord Jesus bless you richly as you consider all that is before you. Amen.
————————————————————
Some additional questions and responses that might be valuable in this discussion:
Why can’t I just practice my christianity in isolation? You can, for a time. The early mystics and desert fathers of Christianity spent most of their lives doing this. But I would suggest, as I have throughout the previous posts, that this is a misunderstanding of the pursuit of Christ. True disciples of Jesus know that The Gospel’s intention is to save us each individually, yes, but also to gather God’s people into “The Church” in anticipation of the restoration of God’s relationship with humanity at the end of days. In the meantime, relationships in common unity in a local church act as both a sanctifying agent and a means by which we show our love for God. As Christ told us in Matthew 22:37-40, the two are unbreakable in their connection.
Why can’t we just scatter into smaller gatherings for a time? The church historically has always had gatherings of the “whole” local church (1 Corinthians 14:23, Romans 16:23) in addition to the meetings from house to house (Acts 2:46). It is part of what defines God’s people in a given locale. There is weight to gathering as a whole body and health that comes from it as well. For example, confessing something to my community group is hard, but confessing something to the entire church is a heavy weight of accountability. The added breadth of relationship gives added weight. Paul talks about the weight of this gathered body in 1 Corinthians 5:4 as an example.
What about house churches in other persecuted settings? They gather in smaller settings, why can’t we do the same? This is true that small churches do gather in secret in highly persecuted countries. But recognize that their desire is to gather in larger communities and some of them still do indeed gather, in spite of the risk. Many of these churches are in the same transition phase as the early church we see in Acts that met in houses to begin with and then eventually moved to larger houses with larger courtyards, or schools, or venues in which their “whole” church could meet. If we have the ability to meet in larger gatherings by using the guidelines provided, why would we not meet?
Why can’t we just focus on proclaiming the gospel individually for a time and not worry about our communal declaration of it? Because there is something special about a group of people gathering to proclaim a message that they find too important to hold back. As a contemporary metaphor, think with me about the view of public protests in our democracy. During 2020, there have been protests across the world, and especially in our country about issues of social and racial justice, personal freedom, desire for transparent voting processes, and much more. Public protests, even if you disagree with the protestors, are part of what makes the liberty found in our country so amazing. In my small experience though, these protests will occur even if there is not a large crowd watching these protests. And yet, the people involved have such a burning desire to proclaim their message that they don’t care if anyone is watching or not. The mere presence of that gathering and the proclamation of their message is important enough to have. Even, I might add, in the face of a pandemic. In fact, many involved in some of these protests who are very much in favor of fighting this pandemic by any means possible, will weigh the risk of close proximity protests and, because of the importance that they have placed on the message they are proclaiming, they will participate in spite of that risk. Any argument with those that participate that this is too dangerous is quickly dismissed with counter argument that the message is too important and the urgency is too high for there to be discussion of other avenues of protest that don’t involve large gatherings. Shouldn’t we feel that same urgency and importance about the gospel declaration we make by our gathering together weekly?