By Joel Nelson, Guest Series
Christian Liberty and Witness to the World
Scripture teaches that even as much as something may be permitted within the context of Christian liberty, it is not always wise or profitable to exercise that liberty. Galatians 5:13-14 teaches, “…Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” And four times in Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians he writes, “All things are lawful for me, but…” Even though permitted, there are times where it does not build up, edify, or show love to a neighbor by exercising a particular freedom. Is the freedom to conduct civil disobedience in this case, by worshiping as a physical, corporate body (as opposed to scattered individuals and families joined only in a spiritual or technological sense) a situation where it is permissible, but not profitable due to the potential negative witness or “stumbling block” to nonchristian neighbors and passers-by?
To properly address this concern, we must begin with what is clear and then progress to interpreting wisely the unclear. The clear command is not to neglect to meet together, per Hebrews 10:24-25: “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.” This command was given in the face of war and impending distress. And this is not an isolated, one-off command that is only applicable in this context, but rather the instruction throughout the Old and New Testament to the covenant community.[i]
“Death Has Lost Its Sting”
Can these commands to meet together as a community be set aside for an undefined, but limited time, such as for the plague or a pandemic or even a viral outbreak with an all-ages case fatality rate far under one percent? There are arguably instances where there would be wisdom in considering the option of temporarily doing so— as long as all ministry activities were not suspended. The historical record of the church, including the writings of many of the Protestant Reformers, does give precedent for this. But these measures should be temporary, with a clear end, and reserved for truly dangerous circumstances. It is one thing to consider whether to “go aside” for a time to avoid waves of plague with a death rate of over 30%, but another matter entirely to also do so for recurring seasonal viruses. As previously noted in this essay, during severe plagues many pastors, bishops, deacons, and even Christian laypeople did not go into hiding but rather displayed remarkable courage in the face of death. The basis for such courage is the resurrection of Jesus Christ: because of the resurrection, death has lost its sting (1 Cor. 15:55). As the apostle Paul wrote, if there is no resurrection— if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, our faith is in vain— then we are of all people most to be pitied (1 Cor. 15:14-19). But since Christ has in fact been raised from the dead as the firstfruits, then the eventual destruction of death is certain (1 Cor. 15:20-26). It is this confidence that has given Christians the courage to face lions, hostile kings, persecution, plagues, and more throughout history. Death is not the ultimate end for those who belong to Christ.
As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, Jesus “must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Cor. 15:25-26). The Biblical record is clear that the resurrected Christ has overcome death and will destroy death, and Christians have the confidence that this will happen. But modern societies do not have the confidence that this will happen. Kimbell Kornu has noted that modern medicine is thus attempting to overcome death by the scientific method, by exalting man’s domination over nature until man himself becomes the final object of dominion (Theopolis Conversations, May 2020). Exhibiting this lack of confidence, when reminded of the risk of death, of man’s fragility, even kings and rulers cower and hide. In the face of this fear, many of mankind’s terrified responses end up resembling little more than pagan rituals, technologically-advanced versions of rain dances until rain finally falls, self-flagellation until the pestilence ends, sacrificing the weakest so that victory over an invading tribe may be won, or wearing talisman objects until the harvest is safely brought in. The viral outbreak of 2020 has revealed the primal terrors of an unconverted world, whose technological and scientific advances were supposed to be its lord and savior but whose gods failed. It is as C.S. Lewis warned: each new power won by man is a power over man as well. Like the Midianite army before Gideon’s 300 men, terror incites men to attack the one thing they still have some semblance of power over: other men.
“Love Your Neighbor”
Rather than attacking other men or demonstrating shows of tyrannical power over them, Christians are commanded in Scripture to “love your neighbor.” This is a clear command. But exactly how this is to be accomplished in the context of the viral outbreak is less clear. We must ask whether it is more loving to our neighbors to adopt much the same course of action as they do, such as lockdowns and mask mandates, and to join with modern medicine to pursue dominion over one another in order to attempt to eradicate an invisible enemy— or to offer a different way and life and culture altogether? This decision is today before pastors, elders, denominations, seminaries, and even lay people to choose. So far, the majority seem to have chosen lockdowns and restrictions. But one must wonder how much longer this can be maintained in the face of absolute disobedience to Jesus our Lord who commands us to worship bodily, weekly, and even made it one of the ten commandments from of old.
One may argue that it is unloving to one’s neighbor to risk their exposure to viral particles and that safety is paramount. But over eight months into the viral outbreak, we have some statistics and much information has been published. The medical community has determined which treatments tend to work better than others. It is easier to make informed decisions and risk assessments at this point than at the beginning. Many charts and graphs now exist (see endnotes) allowing for comparison of eight months of data between regions that did impose lockdowns and regions that did not, and regions that have widespread use of equipment such as face masks and regions that do not. It is far from certain that these interventions have accomplished the intended goal. But with every passing day, more information comes out about the unintended consequences of interventions and a rising death toll directly attributed to “lockdowns” and other governmental actions— some of which also directly infringe upon Biblical commands to work and provide for one’s own household. Every week, cases of despair, suicide, divorce, domestic abuse, addiction, loneliness, solitary death, loss of income, foreclosure and eviction, skipped school years, missed surgeries, undetected terminal illnesses— to selectively name a few casualties— continue to rise. And as these situations also happen among members of local church communities, church leaders may be left to ponder how many such instances could have been averted if individuals and families had not been cut off from the life of the church by government fiat. One must question how allowing all of this to continue is in any way loving to one’s neighbor.
But based on the evidence of how many churches remain peacefully shut down until governments decide otherwise, many Christians seem to be comfortable with lockdowns, closures, and the associated impacts on individual lives— in contrast to the risk of contracting the virus itself. A form of community still exists “virtually” and many may think there has been no change whatsoever in their relationship with God, given the prevalence of the physical/spiritual and visible/invisible dichotomies. But as Peter Leithart notes in The Baptized Body, salvation for the human race requires a social form – not individual egos restored to individual fellowship with Christ but rather human beings as they were created, delivered from the sinful ways we treat each other and the world. And we interact with the world (and the heavenly, I must add) through our bodies, through our senses. Bodily contact is not bodily contact at all when it is in the abstract or virtual sense. The apostles did not experience a spirit-being Christ, or a virtual Christ, but rather the resurrected physical body of Christ. It was not enough for Thomas to have the knowledge that Jesus had risen from the dead, but rather needed to see and touch his physical body. 1 John 1:1 is very “physical” as well, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands…” The body of Christ worships together, in the body, face to face. Yet during this time, it is the body that is devalued: the corporate body of Christ in the gathered church, the mystical presence of the body of Christ in the Lord’s Supper, the physical contact of one human body to another, or even the appearance of an unveiled face— all have been restricted for an unknown duration.
In the context of evangelism, witness, and loving one’s neighbor, which course of action is more likely to save another from an eternal death? And which offers the hope of the age to come? To offer no alternative to the prevailing wisdom of the age— or for neighbors to see a counter-culture which may seem shocking, even offensive to some, yet to others may remind them of what they are missing out on, leading to a thirst for something more? And even if that “something more” is something like missing out on human connection, community, seeing others’ faces— glimpses of restored humanity this side of eternity— during this time it may be the catalyst which attracts someone to a church community. As Peter Leithart writes in The Baptized Body,
“The church continues to be the place where Christ reaches out to the world. The church is a new humanity filled with the Spirit of Jesus… (and) wherever she goes, there is the power and love and life and joy that was manifested in the personal body of the Word of Life.”
Now, perhaps even more than just one year ago, church communities which open their doors offer an attractive contrast-society to the fear and nihilism which has overtaken the world. Faithful, obedient Christians today have an opportunity to show Christ to the world by worshipping with confidence, providing care for the sick, and hospitality to those who have experienced loss.
The prevailing “wisdom of the age” is safety at any cost, and many believe so strongly in this safety that some neighbors may take offense and even summon civil authorities to intervene against those who do not give the same fealty to safety. Some elected officials have mandated that neighbors “snitch” on one another if they see such violations taking place, even in private. It may soon be necessary to give testimony in public courts for offenses committed against this idol of safety. There will be conflict, even enemies made— and this always happens when the Gospel poses an existential challenge to cultural mores and norms. It happened to the Apostles, to the Reformers, to missionaries, and it will happen again. It is what happens when kingdoms clash. But this is not unlike what has happened throughout history when individuals or groups stand out for not bowing to the gods of the age. For example, officials in the Roman Empire charged Christians for “atheism” and “impiety” for not practicing the Roman civil religion and its customs, and Christians were sentenced to death for these religious and cultural violations. If Christians today are seen to not be cowering or living in fear, not “following the science,” not ceasing to gather around the Lord’s Table, then some civil authorities may take offense. Peter Leithart has warned in Against Christianity that “some Haman will notice that there is a people in the empire who do not live according to the laws of the Medes… As soon as the Church appears, it becomes clear to any alert politician that worldly politics is no longer the only game in town. The introduction of the Church into any city means that the city has a challenger within its walls.” We are not used to thinking this way in the United States of America; we are accustomed to peaceful compatibility and coexistence. This may not be possible in all situations anymore.
Now it must be stated that this does not mean Christians should adopt a “head-in-the-sand” ignorance of the risk of death, such as pretending there is no risk at all. It is prudent to take reasonable measures to accommodate and protect the most vulnerable, such as the elderly and immuno-compromised, while ensuring they are not cut off indefinitely from the life of the church.[ii] The exact measures may vary by situation and locale and should not be prescribed as a one-size-fits-all mandate. This essay should not be interpreted as advocating for wanton endangerment of high-risk individuals by refusing to make any accommodations for them; however, the healthy and strong must not cower in fear and refuse to take on even minimal risk. As with any other aspect of life, it must be understood that there remains some degree of risk, including the risk of death. We cannot completely eliminate the risk of death, although Christians do have a different perspective on death than the rest of the world. As Alastair Roberts wrote in a recent Theopolis Institute essay, “The Christian faith has historically long been imagined as a practice in the art of dying well.” If the virus of 2020 fails to perform up to the most dire predictions, but another virus emerges that does claim as many as 1 in 3, how will the church then witness to the world the art of dying well? Will we be in isolation, clinging to life as long as our hearts beat, or will we go in courage as the saints before us went, “being of good cheer and playing the man” as long as we have the breath to do so? We remember the saints of old for their courage and faith, to the extent that many would have crumbled and handed the holy things over except for the sustaining grace of God. As many today live in fear and cut off from themselves many of the good joys of common grace, the church has an opportunity now to demonstrate what it means to “not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing” (Luke 12:22-23). As the saints of old went on with worship, ministry, even holy feasts, while the unconverted “fled from their dearest” (as previously quoted in the letter of Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria) so today Christians have an opportunity to be a contrast society that offers hope and courage in the face of despair.
Conclusion
In contrast to the fear and despair that runs rampant in the world, within the community of the gathered saints there is fellowship, singing, confession and absolution, ascension into the presence of the Creator and access to the Throne with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven. There is the proclamation of the good news of Christ’s reign, teaching, and offerings of thanks. There is intercession for the church and the world, the passing of the peace of Christ, the bread of life and wine of gladness around a family table, and a commissioning to go out and serve in the week ahead. This is not optional, not “icing on the cake” if the right things are aligned in the world and in the schedule. This is the place where there is life and salvation. And gathering to worship is never without risks, virus or no virus! There is risk involved because the worshiper is entering into the presence of Jesus, who is watching and judging (1 Cor. 11). Worshipers assemble as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1) prepared by the Word of God, which is sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart… naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account (Heb. 4:12-13). There is nothing safe about this! But the alternative is the false salvation the world offers, found in fragmentation and isolation masked as “safety” and which leads only to death.
In summary, during this present situation as well as in the future when the attention of the world has moved on to a new panic, the church must trust and obey the commands of its Head, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ has already won the victory over death; his people must now obediently accept the challenge of being a living contrast, a counter-society, to a people caught in the throes of death. The faithful witness of Christians of old, amid both persecution and plague, should encourage Christians today to offer an alternative to the dissolution of society and the death-tinged isolation that is rampant in the world today. Will the church remain faithful to Jesus? Will it obey him and keep his commandments? Obedience and faithfulness in the present context must involve continuing to do as Jesus has commanded: not forsaking the assembly of the saints, regardless of cultural and societal pressures. As the message of fear continues to spread around the world, Christians should continue to demonstrate courageous faithfulness to Jesus by boldly and confidently gathering, singing, worshiping, and feasting as a family and as a living body.
[i] One such Old Testament command to gather is Leviticus 23:3, which states “the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation.” In Through New Eyes (p. 200), James B. Jordan associated this commandment with the origin of regular weekly worship in a local synagogue.
[ii] This is the advice of the infectious disease epidemiologists behind “The Great Barrington Declaration,” accessible on the Internet at https://gbdeclaration.org/. One section of the Declaration reads, “Allow those who are at minimal risk of death to live their lives normally to build up immunity to the virus through natural infection, while better protecting those who are at highest risk. We call this Focused Protection.” This author is a public signee of the Great Barrington Declaration.
Bibliography
Articles
Agresta, Abigail. “From Purification to Protection: Plague Response in Late Medieval Valencia.” Speculum 95, no. 2 (April 2020): 371–95.
Anderson, Per M. “Reading Luther on Plague in a Technological Age.” Word & World 13, no. 3 (Sum 1993): 277–83.
Beza, Theodore. “A learned treatise of the plague wherein the two questions, whether the plague be infectious or no, and, whether and how far it may be shunned of Christians by going aside, are resolved.” London: Thomas Ratcliffe, 1665; Ann Arbor: Text Creation Partnership, 2011. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A27641.0001.001/1:1?rgn=div1;view=fulltext (accessed December 3, 2020).
Chiu, Remi. “Singing on the Street and in the Home in Times of Pestilence: Lessons from the 1576–78 Plague of Milan.” In Domestic Devotions in Early Modern Italy, 27–44. Leiden, The Netherlands, 2019.
Leithart, Peter J, “Liturgy and the Counter-Cultural Church,” Biblical Horizons No. 21 (June 1992):
No. 21: Liturgy and the Counter-Cultural Church(accessed November 11, 2020).
Luther, Martin. “Whether One May Flee From A Deadly Plague”
Kornu, Kimbell, “The Nihilism of Modern Medicine,” Theopolis Institute,
The Nihilism of Modern Medicine(accessed November 11, 2020).
Mansell, Megan, “CDC’s sloppy “Scientific Brief” adds nothing to the evidence for masks,” Rational Ground,
CDC’s sloppy “Scientific Brief” adds nothing to the evidence for masks(accessed November 11, 2020).
Roberts, Alastair, “The Christian Art of Dying Well,” Theopolis Institute, https://theopolisinstitute.com/conversations/78388/ (accessed November 11, 2020).
Schoedel, William Richard. “Christian ‘Atheism’ and the Peace of the Roman Empire.” Church History 42, no. 3 (September 1973): 309–19.
Books
Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Translated and indexed by Ford Lewis Battles (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1960).
Giussano Giovanni Pietro, The Life of St. Charles Borromeo, Cardinal Archbishop of Milan: From the Italian of John Peter Giussano; With Preface by Henry Edward Cardinal Manning. Vita Di S. Carlo Borromeo. (Rome, 1610; London – New York, 1884).
Jordan, James B. The Sociology of the Church: Essays in Reconstruction. (Tyler, TX: Geneva Ministries, 1986), Chapter 9.
Leithart, Peter J. Against Christianity. (Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 2003).
Leithart, Peter J. The Baptized Body. (Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 2007).
Leithart, Peter J. The Theopolitan Vision. (West Monroe, LA: Athanasius Press, 2019).
Lewis, C.S. The Abolition of Man. (New York, NY: HarperOne, 2001).
Luther, Martin. The Large Catechism (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1959).
Luther, Martin. Luther’s Works, Vol. 43: Devotional Writings II, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann, vol. 43. (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999).
Maier, Paul L. Eusebius: The Church History. (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 2007).
Markus, R.A. Gregory the Great and His World. (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1997).
McNair, Philip. “Seeds of Renewal,” in Introduction to the History of Christianity, ed. Tim Dowley (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2002).
Meyers, Jeffrey J. The Lord’s Service: The Grace of Covenant Renewal Worship. (Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 2003).
Newbigin, Lesslie. The Gospel in a Pluralist Society. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1989),
Noll, Mark. Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity, 3rd Ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2012).
Westminster Assembly, The Westminster Confession of Faith: With Proof Texts. (Horsham, Pa.: Great Commission Publications, 1992).
For Further Reading
COVID-19 Statistics
https://collateralglobal.org/ – Links to academic studies (focusing primarily on the United Kingdom as of November 2020) on the side-effects of COVID-19 lockdowns and mandates.
https://rationalground.com/ – Contains links to charts and graphs, as well as several opinion pieces and blog entries. Presented in reverse chronological order (newest first).
https://gbdeclaration.org/ – Concerns regarding prevailing COVID-19 policies and an alternative approach to these policies. Authored by infectious disease epidemiologists and public health scientists and signed by over 12,000 medical/public health scientists, over 35,000 medical practitioners, and over 638,000 concerned citizens as of November 24, 2020.
Social Media:
Theopolis Institute Conversation, May-June 2020 (Kimbell Kornu, Brian Brock, Peter Leithart, Brewer Eberly, Kristin M. Collier, and Alastair Roberts)
Views on the role of the Church, Worship, and relation to the world as presented in this essay
Leithart, Peter J. Against Christianity. (Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 2003).
Leithart, Peter J. The Baptized Body. (Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 2007).
Leithart, Peter J. The Theopolitan Vision. (West Monroe, LA: Athanasius Press, 2019).
Leithart, Peter J., “Why Should I Join A Church,” Biblical Horizons No. 12 (April 1990): http://www.biblicalhorizons.com/biblical-horizons/no-12-why-should-i-join-a-church/
Meyers, Jeffrey J. The Lord’s Service: The Grace of Covenant Renewal Worship. (Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 2003).
Wilson, Douglas. “Reformed” Is Not Enough: Recovering the Objectivity of the Covenant. (Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 2002, 2010).
