Should We Disobey the Government? Is John MacArthur Right?

 John MacArthur, Grace Community Church Sun Valley

 

 A Great and godly Pastor

 

I have long admired the ministry of John MacArthur, the 81 year old pastor of Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, California.

I have been blessed by his preaching, profitted from his books, and above all else, admired his uncompromising stand on the key issues of our day.

 

(My appreciation of MacArthur, by the way, has got nothing to do with the size of his church, for in God's eyes, according to the Scriptures, numbers are irrelevant to the way the Lord views both churches and their leaders. Not one New Testament church is commended for being large, not one reproached for being small).

We thank the Lord for John MacArthur!

But we question his decision to open up Grace Community Church against the commands of the local authorities. 

You can hear his reasoning HERE and HERE. 

 

Should we in the UK follow his lead? There are four reasons, as far as I can see, for not following MacArthur on this one - and let's remember that it is a secondary issue, not a primary one.

The American Scene

The US is not the UK. The pioneering can-do attitude which enabled the pioneers to advance across inhospitable terrain transmutes to a fierce individuality and  independency which is just not British. We have seen these differences during lockdown - Americans have been far more outspoken than their British counterparts.

The Big-Building Issue

And then you have the natural pressure that any institution which owns a building feels when it is not used. Something needs to be done! When it comes to churches this can easily translate into a faulty view of the church. Church is a group of people; where they meet is irrelevant. But we can imagine the pressure on the megachurches to open up again for all sorts of reasons, including financial. 

 

The church is alive when folk meet in homes, in gardens, in outdoor spaces. They don't all need to meet together in a building for church to be "real." 

So Grace Community Church, and indeed any church, could simply encourage their people to make better (and more New Testament) use of their homes, gardens and basements. That could have been their response to the pandemic - let's get ourselves a more biblical ecclesiology. And perhaps that is happening.

What Governments are not Saying

No government in the world (exceptions excepted) are telling churches "you may not meet for worship any more." If they were, we'd all have to ignore their instructions, as the believers in Communist Russia did, and meet in secret, in basements, attics, forests, wherever.

Governments are saying "don't meet at the moment because of the risk to health." That is a world away from "stop meeting." And they are saying this to all religious groups, and all festivals and all large gatherings. Christians are not being targetted.

The Archilles Heel

The fundamental flaw in the decision of Grace Community Church is this: they have made the assessment that the risk of the pandemic is far less serious than the Government are making out. It is largely, as far as I can see, this argument that is propelling their move to re-open.

 

There may be some truth in it. My own guess, for what it is worth, is that governments are looking at how they will be judged. If their policies result in more deaths than the country next door, then ammo is given to their political enemies.

And of course, governments are on a steep learning curve themselves! So they may well be over-egging the dangers and erring on the side of caution.

But is it right, on a matter of a secular judgement "how serious is this pandemic" for churches to act as though their own judgement is more accurate than that of the Government's?

A simple analogy, I think, settles the matter. As a driver I constantly disagree with the judgement of the road authorities on what speed limit they set on each road. Most of the time I think it's too low, but sometimes I think its too high.

So near me, thet've set the speed limit on the Oldbury Road at 30mph. There are stretches of that road where it could easily be 35 or even 40 - at least that is what I think.

Do I then have the right to drive at 35 or 40 on those stretches? Emphatically not. I am called upon by the Lord to obey those in authority (Romans 13). 

My judgement does not count, theirs does.

If a government comes to the conclusion that it is unsafe for large gatherings to take place, we must obey them. They are not stopping Christians from meeting - for we can meet anywhere. They are not stopping worship, for we can sing in our homes or in the countryside.

They are not asking us to disobey any rule of Christ. And therefore we are bound to obey them.

Summing it Up

If we really believe the judgement of the goverement is wrong, we should spend our energies lobbying them, persuading them where they are going wrong. Hopefully they will listen. Once a vaccine is ready we'll be able to meet up anyway. 

But there seems no compelling reasons to disobey the law of the land, and in the process chalke up a $1000/day fine.

Let's wait and see what happens.