Why I Don't Believe Quarantine is an Attack on the Church

We are living in strange times right now. This is an unprecedented situation that our generation has never found ourselves in. Tensions are getting high as people are quarantined in their homes. Some are afraid of contracting the COVID-19 virus, while others have economic and employment concerns. In times like these we are tempted to give into our fear, look for conspiracy theories, or just give into our anger. As a Christian, I believe there is a hope that we can hold on to in difficult times. At this point I reject some of the theories out there, but I could be proven wrong.

I don’t believe there is a left-winged conspiracy against churches.

For starters, many are making the argument that Costco and liquors stores are essential but churches are not. I understand the frustration with this. Christians should feel like their church is essential and it is offensive to say that it isn’t. I personally don’t like the fact that liquor stores are open, since I am a non-drinker, they don’t seem that important to me. However comparing them to churches is a bad comparison. People don’t congregate in liquor stores, sing, and pray together - activities that can spread a virus. Additionally, I realize it is more likely to contact COVID19 at Costco then some churches, but Costco sells food. To the authorities, the food chain is essential. From a stand point of a pandemic, churches should be compared more to movie theaters and concerts, places where people gather in one place. To me, a church is far more essential than a movie or a concert.  For a health official, the risk to spread a virus is the same. If they were to band churches form broadcasting our services online, there would be more validity to this argument. 

I don’t believe the virus is fake or that it is not deadly.

The numbers are proving that COVID19 is much deadlier than the flu. Numbers are not as high as projected so far, but that may be because we have been in quarantine. If these measures had not been taken, things could be much worse. Lifting them too soon may be a big mistake.

I do have genuine concerns.

1. I struggle with the limits of government. The United States is a unique country. Not only are we a Democratic-Republic, but we also have always struggled between the rights of states and the Federal Government. We are not used to seeing this much government control. It seems to me that many in political leadership are trying to navigate new waters. Governors are still free to open and close their states. It is important to me that we properly navigate and discuss the limits we want on our government. We should give as much grace and understanding as possible to secular leaders, while ensuring and protecting these limits
2. I wonder if this is the best plan. There seems to be no real plan here. Some states are opening up, others are closing down. We need to drastically increase testing, Worse of all, COVID-19 has become a political issue (like everything now). Politics is about winning, this has to be about getting things right. People will die if the wrong decisions are made, not to mention the strain on the economy. 
3. I am concerned that we won’t care for the weakest among us. — Sweden is a test case for the world right now. Currently in Sweden there are little restrictions. They are relying on herd immunity to combat the virus. They have tried to quarantine those who are high risk. In some ways this seems to be working, since the country’s over all numbers are in line with Ireland. There is a spike, however, of infected people in nursing homes. Even with their quarantine steps, the most vulnerable are still getting sick. Perhaps, to a secular culture this may seem ok. Quoting Spock from the “Wrath of Kahn”, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” The Christian worldview is different. The many should be willing to suffer inconvenience and hardship to protect the most vulnerable among us.  If we are going to argue for a Christian worldview in society, we should be concerned first about protecting the weakest.

James 1:27 New International Version (NIV)27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

The church is essential.

As a pastor, I always struggle with this question: “If your church were to shut down today, who in your community would be upset?” Perhaps the church isn’t seen as essential because we haven’t been. We are called to be healers. Jesus was a healer first, then a teacher, then a preacher. Perhaps we have gotten that backwards. I can’t help but think that somehow the church should have been better prepared for this. Seems to me we have depended way too much on the Sunday event and not enough on our ministry. People in the pew may be crying out because they miss the church service, but if our communities aren’t upset, that may be our fault. 

There are three mistakes Christians commonly make with the culture around us: we hide from it, we fight it, or we conform to it. The church is always essential to society. We offer a conscience to the government, changed lives through the gospel, and a voice for the most vulnerable. This crisis challenges us to address our culture with love and truth. Everything has changed. We are essential. It is time for us to figure out how we are going to be.