Few people have been as influential in my life as Dr. John MacArthur. For those of you that know me well, you know that he has played a major role in my life. His books, writings, and sermons really set me on the path to spending a lifetime knowing God’s Word. I have dozens of his books on my shelf and it was his presence that led me to the Master’s Seminary, not even considering another possible school. MacArthur has faithfully preached and shepherded his congregation for over 50 years, so when he speaks about church things, I listen.
Just a few days ago, MacArthur and the elders of Grace Community Church (his church) came to a controversial decision about their church meetings and posted their explanation online for everyone to read. They have decided to defy the governor’s restrictions on church assemblies and guidelines and are going back to meeting as normal. The document in which they explained this was both cordial and respectful, but also clearly contrary to the governor.
Their argument was based, not on the Constitutional argument (which is a man-made document), instead it was based on the Lordship of Christ over His church. The title of their document was “Christ is the Head of the Church, not Caesar.” That means that they felt the governor had overstepped his bounds of authority in restricting Jesus’ church. In short, Newsome has no power in which to curtail Jesus’ church. And with that being said, they are going back to meeting as normal.
I wanted to interact a little bit in this month’s article with the reasoning from Grace Community Church and how it applies to us. While I agree with the principle statement that Jesus is the Lord of the Church, I disagree with GCC’s application. Let me explain why.
First, the governor is not saying the church cannot meet, he is saying the church cannot meet inside. This differentiation is crucial. Grace Community Church has a massive church complex with a huge parking lot and actually has a tent set up in the parking lot where they were holding services for the past number of weeks. Why is this setup not sufficient? Meeting in the parking lot under a tent fulfills both responsibilities: they are gathering together and they are following the governor’s guidelines. It seems like a win-win. If our temperatures didn’t hover around 100 degrees every day I would lobby for meeting in the parking lot.
Second, the government already restricts ways in which the church assembles, and we rightly go along with those. For example, there are building codes and fire codes we must meet if we are to assemble as a church. Grace Community Church is so large that they have two services because their sanctuary can’t hold everyone in their church. They rightly go along with this instead of cramming people in the aisles and sitting in the exits. Why are these guidelines not an overreach but meeting inside is?
Third, their document ends with the call for every church reading to ‘join them in obedience to Christ.’ This implies that churches that do not agree are somehow not in obedience to Christ. Now, one of their pastors clarified that this is not what they meant, but it still reads that way. There is no room for a Romans 14 discussion about each person being convinced in his own mind (Rom 14:5). There are good and godly men who feel that not meeting inside is obedience to Christ, since Christ called on us to obey our government (Rom 13, 1 Pet 2, Titus 3). There is no clear Biblical command to meet inside a building. Also, what about those who have health conditions or are high-risk and decide to not come. Are they being disobedient by not gathering?
Fourthly, they decided to meet without any restrictions. Last Sunday morning, thousands of people met inside of their building sitting next to one another with no masks or no social distancing. That was very surprising to me considering GCC voluntarily went along with the first closure back in March. And, in their document they said that this virus is ‘not as serious as once thought.’ That is a curious statement for church elders to make since they are not medical professionals. Is that an overreach for church leaders to make pronouncements about the seriousness of a virus?
Look, let me just categorically say that I agree with Dr. MacArthur and Grace Community Church about 99% of the time. I respect his leadership and fearless courage never seeing it paralleled in any other Christian leader. But on this one, I disagree. And that is ok. We can have disagreements about these decisions and still continue to fellowship and minister with one another. It is when we begin to choose sides and separate that this becomes a problem.
If anyone is upset by the church closures it is me. I do believe we must meet as a congregation. It breaks my heart to not see some of our members for up to five months now. If we could open up tomorrow, I would rush to do it. However, I also believe the Scripture calls on the church to submit to the government, especially when it is for the reasoning of public health. As long as the state is not saying, “you can’t preach” or “you can’t sing” (which we did not abide by), then they are not overreaching their authority. The closure is still temporary and the closure is not unique to the church only. Mosques, synagogues, and other indoor meetings are closed as well.
So, here is the position we have decided to take at Congregational Bible Church. We will continue to abide by the government’s restrictions, in obedience to Scripture. However, we also know that individuals have health needs that are not just physical. Say, for example, their spiritual health. Officially, we are closed, but we will be live-streaming from our sanctuary at 10:45 with the doors unlocked. We will not bar people from entering the building. If you are concerned about the virus or are high-risk, then watch the live-stream. If you are desperate to be in God’s house on Sunday mornings, we won’t kick you out. We do ask that you follow the guidelines about mask wearing and social distancing.
Also, we ask that you keep this information ‘in-house.’ Please don’t post this information on social media or announce it to the world. Our desire is to pray for our leaders so that we can “lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity” (1 Tim 2:2).