As you have likely seen, a well-known worship leader has been traveling the country hosting large gatherings of corporate sung worship. #letusworship has promoted and fueled this movement over social media. After varying levels and lengths of quarantine, and many churches still offering a hybrid of in-person and online gatherings, I am not surprised these events have drawn significant crowds. More than the gatherings I find two things fascinating: the reaction, and the language. The language reveals a fundamental deficiency in our understanding of worship - worship is the response of our whole lives, not just for believers but all people (I have written at length on this subject, here). Although gathering and singing are certainly significant parts of the way we express worship as the people of God, no government can keep people from worshiping - even if they desired - because worship is the default setting of every human heart. The reaction exposes a very American ideology: life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and an often repeated refrain from American Evangelicals that ‘the government is taking away my freedoms…’
My desire is neither to condemn nor condone. But I think is critically important for followers of Jesus at all times (and particularly in these polarized days), to be intentional and aware of how we are being shaped and formed, and by whom. Certainly, as leaders, we are held to a high standard in the subtle and significant ways we teach, lead, and instruct the people of God in their discipleship (James 3:1).
We are all living disconnected from many of our normal rhythms, routines, and community. As followers of Christ, we are called to be a people, and not to neglect assembling together (1 Pet 2:10, Heb 10:25). Gathering as the family of God is important. But what is the purpose of our gatherings? Teaching, fellowship, sharing, and responding to God and one another. In essence - our gatherings are for the formation of our whole lives around the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Being obedient to Christ should form us to resemble Christ more than the culture. But our resistance to government restrictions appears to be forming the faithful community into the image of America more than the image of Christ and His Kingdom. As followers of Christ, we are to be marked by love, and self-denial (Jn 13:35, Lk 9:23). What would it look like for those of us who claim the name of Christ to literally forego some of our freedoms for our weaker brothers and sisters during COVID-19 (1 Cor 8)?
Are there times or situations that require acute government resistance? Of course. We look to Daniel and Esther as examples in Scripture and Martin Luther King, Jr, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer as those who sought faithfulness to God over submission to unjust laws. But Scripture also tells us that God appoints rulers, and turns their hearts like water in His hand and that no ruler has any authority if it was not given them by God (Rom 13:1, Prv 21:1, Jn 19:11).
As we have felt the ache of our inability to gather, the confusion and pain of living in the middle of a global pandemic, and the fear of the future and the government, I have often thought of our brothers and sisters in chains (Heb 13:3) around the world. Those believers who risk their lives to whisper worship songs in the quiet of the underground Church, who are disowned by their families for embracing Christ, who are beaten, tortured, jailed, starved, burned, raped, and abducted for choosing the path of discipleship to Jesus. How would those brothers and sisters view our social media campaigns and open-air gatherings? How would they instruct us, lead us, and coach us in being faithful to Jesus in the midst of their very real persecution and our fear over freedoms?
We are people who live knowing the end of the story. Regardless of present or future circumstances: Christ is on the throne. He is ruling and reigning both now and eternally. Therefore, we have nothing to fear.