“Under Covid, we have set a precedent of obeying man rather than God”
by J L Fuller
In March 2020, we were told that we’re facing a world-wide pandemic that was highly contagious and was killing indiscriminately.
The Church in the UK, as in other countries, was hit hard.
From 22 March 2020, churches and other places of worship were ordered to shut their doors completely. When they were allowed to re-open on 4 July 2020, clergy and churchgoers faced bans on singing, Bibles, Communion and baptisms.
In their place came tracking, tracing and ticketing of worshippers, enforced mask wearing, and, in some settings, enforced ‘PCR’ testing. On top of this was the pressure, even from the pulpit, to take an experimental, novel ‘vaccine’.
These are hugely spiritual problems, as well as physical and mental.
For generations, and without government interference, church services have followed certain routines
At the beginning of Covid, we obeyed the rules out of genuine trust and to maintain the Christian default posture of submission to the ruling authorities, believing it was for our own and others’ good. Eighteen months later, with churches ‘allowed’ to return to ‘normal’ by government decree, I believe we need to learn from five key errors made by churches:
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We neglected our holy gatherings
Lockdowns swept away the comforting familiarity of an orderly service and worship as prescribed in the Scriptures. For generations, and without government interference, church services have followed certain routines, known as the regulative or normative principles for a service.
Could it be that the safety rules under Covid are the ‘suggestions of Satan’?
Modern evangelical churches practise the normative principle, which teaches that worship in the Church can include elements that are not prohibited by Scripture – such as using instruments, announcing notices, and taking up tithes and offerings.
These principles for a holy gathering uphold unadulterated scriptural directions as the basis of church worship. The Second London Baptist Confession of 1689 states: “The acceptable way of worshipping the true God, is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to the imagination and devices of men, nor the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representations, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures (22.1).”
Could it be that the safety rules under Covid were the ‘suggestions of Satan’?
2. Many allowed themselves to become a non-gathered, non-functioning church
Scripture exhorts us to:
a) Gather in his name and not neglect meeting together; this makes no provision for universal isolation and lockdowns (Hebrews 10:25).
b) Greet one another with a holy kiss and have good fellowship with each other (Romans 16:16, Acts 2:42, Romans 12:13). Social distancing and masks ruin gatherings.
c) Partake in the Lord’s Supper (therefore rejecting a ‘bread only’ version).
d) Baptise.
e) Sing to the LORD (therefore rejecting mandates to stop congregational singing and to play a music video only, or be sung to by a small music group).
3. Now we obey men before God
Acts 5 clearly tells us that when the commandments of men and the commandments of God are at odds, we are always to obey God. Under Covid, we have set a precedent of obeying man rather than God. This needs to be truly repented of.
4. We have treated healthy people as unclean plague bearers
Instead of quarantining the sick only, as the Bible teaches, we have treated everyone as if they are contaminated with a deadly disease and must be kept away from us, which is not only a gross misinterpretation of the situation, but is anti-biblical and anti-Christian in spirit.
5. The Sovereign God has been forgotten
Our Lord does not give us get-out clauses for what he prescribes – namely gathering for Christian worship. He is fully aware of, and sovereign over, the coronavirus.
Do we believe that? Have we trusted that he calls us to worship together at any and all times? Sadly not. Let us remind ourselves that our heavenly Father, our Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit have feelings – they are jealous for us, they are grieved by our idolatry and side-lining of them and will not sanction the neglect of their holy Word.
A lesson from Nazi Germany
Hitler systematically used Scriptures such as Romans 13:1-7 on submission to the higher powers to manipulate the Church into obedience to his regime and in disobedience to God.
Could we be facing the beginnings of something similar here? It’s crucial for us to discern the times we’re in and keep a close, obedient walk with the Lord.
We are not to simply pray about obeying, or obey as far as we can, given the government rules, or adapt how we obey, given the situation. No, we are to simply OBEY!
Just because we are putting a lot of time, effort and prayer into our activities, we should not mistake disobedience for true obedience.
Similarly, we are told to ‘put on the Lord Jesus Christ’ (Romans 13:14), not simply look at him in wonder; we are to be followers of Jesus – doing what he tells us, having counted the cost upfront – not mere admirers.
J L Fuller has written a book called ‘Romans 13 and Covid 19 – Knowledge, Warnings and Encouragement for the Church’, which analyses and exposes deceptive dangers and errors entering the Church under coronavirus mandates, and gives a biblical roadmap out of it.
Available now from Amazon or www.Romans13Revival.com
An entrepreneur, author and law graduate, J L Fuller has a decade of experience in legal policymaking, medical law and ethics, as well as almost two decades of natural health research and consultancy.
‘Saved’ out of the occultic New Age and ‘humanistic self-development worlds’, J L Fuller is now a ‘dedicated follower of Jesus’, with a keen interest in biblical doctrine. After studying the official documents and factual criminal agendas of the ‘Luciferian New World Order globalist elites’ for more than 20 years, J L Fuller delights in seeing people ‘set free from this pervasive deception and bondage, through faith in Christ’.