Is church “essential”?
“And God put all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the Church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Ephesians 1:22-23
Dear Friends & Family,
Although the Church should be in subjection to the governing authorities (Rom. 13:1-6; 1 Pet. 2:13-16), the authority of the State is never absolute. The Church is under the exclusive Lordship of Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:19; Col. 1:18). Therefore, there are times when the Church needs to affirm Acts 5:29 “we must obey God rather than man.”
We believe that the Church is essential. We believe that Christians and non-Christians alike are in critical need of the help that only Christ’s Church provides. Yet, there is a raging debate happening right now that has escalated into quite a power struggle between federal government authorities and state government authorities, with the Church caught in the middle. “Is the Church essential?” Well, I think the answer to that question depends upon who you are:
You see, if you are an apostate, power-mongering, greedy, arrogant, egotistical politician whose agenda lies in something other than the good of the people, then “no” of course the Church is not essential in your eyes. It is simply a leveraging tool to be used for deceitful and manipulative purposes in the context of a corrupt political system. (Do I paint a correct picture, or do I exaggerate?)
If you are a single mom in her late twenties who has just come out of the horrors of addiction and is trying to break free of the hellish relationships associated with this lifestyle, the Church is very essential. If you have just accepted Christ and view the Church as your only lifeline…then the Church is totally essential. What happens to a person like this when the Church must close its doors for 10 weeks and can no longer meet? What happens to a person like this when the only encouraging people you have in your life are no longer available to you because everyone is under quarantine orders? What happens when the only hope you have in this world closes its doors? You die. First on the inside, then on the outside.
Our beloved Jennifer, a congregant of our local church, was found dead in her apartment on Sunday morning May 24th, when she should have been worshipping Christ and engaged in fellowship inside the church. But she couldn’t because the Church, our church, was deemed “non-essential.”
Virtual church is not real church. Virtual fellowship is not real fellowship. These are counterfeit, computer generated images that serve as poor replacements for the real thing. Better than nothing? Sure. As good as the real? Not even close. Make no mistake beloved…the Church, in real time and space, is essential for those who have been redeemed. There is no substitute. And now, for most congregations, there are much bigger issues at stake than potentially catching a virus strain and getting sick. Those who think the State is benevolent towards the Church need to realize that freedoms given up for the sake of security are sometimes, indeed oftentimes, permanently relinquished. I pray there is enough fortitude left inside the Church to not allow this to happen. Psalm 68:1.