Thoughts on the Church Part 2a
This past year of 2020 has opened my eyes to one reality about the church and Christians— We suck on social issues. We are bad at them and we aren’t losing the war on social issues- we’ve lost. Most of society thinks we’re nuts and just ignores what we have to say. Unfortunately, 2020 brought more of the same. Three social issues dominated the landscape this past year; the pandemic, racism , and politics. In my view Christians made all three of these worse. Now I know this is a over-generalization and that I’m using a wide brush towards all Christians but as more and more people leave the church much of it stems from how we tackle social issues. This past year I’ve witnessed mean, cruel and unsympathetic behavior by Christians online and off towards people who think different, look different and act different. I’ve witnessed judgmental attitudes by people who exclaim loudly “Don’t judge me. and the saddest part for me, is that I’ve also witnessed these things in myself.
Back in March of 2020 when the pandemic first started in the U.S.I, like most, never saw the enormity of what was coming. When the first restrictions were handed down for churches, I figured they wouldn’t last long but as week by week went by frustration set in for many of us and that’s when much of the ugliness came out. Consider these statements made by Pastors;
“I don’t care about no COVID"
“If they come trying to tell us we can’t meet anymore, or we can’t sing, or we can’t have a Bible study anymore, that’s not going to go,” “God does not want us to allow that to happen.”
“My personal conviction is, I don’t get sick,”
The spread of coronavirus in synagogues is a punishment of the Jewish people for opposing Jesus.
“Satan and a virus will not stop us. God will shield us from all harm and sickness”
This pandemic is a scheme by Satan to exterminate elderly Christians and promote socialism
It’s no wonder the unchurched world thinks we are anti-science. I understand that everything around COVID was politized, but that doesn’t excuse shepherds of the flock from being careless, unsympathetic and ignorant to the plight and suffering of the world around them. Standing on a stage loudly proclaiming that COVID is no big deal doesn’t prove that you have faith, it just proves that you’re ignorant. Any pastor who downplays people’s concern or minimizes the suffering of people is not worthy to hold that title and is no shepherd worth following.
One researcher noted that,
Individual clergy and congregations, across faith traditions, have been sources of misinformation and disinformation, promoting messages and actions that engender fear, animosity toward others, and unnecessary risk-taking.
One of the saddest aspects of this pandemic is the number of Christians who have indulged in baseless conspiracy theories. They watch a video on YouTube or see a post of Facebook by some supposed expert and they take it as gospel sharing it to everyone on their friends list. It has always been amazing to me how a 3x5 inch piece of cloth would spur so much consternation. One pastor told me that wearing a mask was against his religion. I looked at him with disbelief, shaking my head. Not because he didn’t want to wear a mask, but that he would use the Bible and faith to justify not caring about his neighbor. This pastor never wore a mask anywhere, publicly criticized anyone who did and scoffed at the number of people that were dying from COVID complications. Too many Christians think of themselves as Americans first and Christians second and because of that they stand staunch in their individualism, that “No one can tell me what to do.” That isn’t the way of Jesus.
What I see is a group of people who are commanded to “love their neighbor as themselves” and to “clothe themselves with humility” unsympathetic to the plight of people who are suffering around them. As of this writing over 573,000 of our fellow citizens have died from Covid-related illness. Does anyone really think that the families of those 573,000 people care what they died of? No, they are missing their loved ones and from what I’ve seen, many Christians have turned a unsympathetic ear towards them.
My other job, besides pastoring, is with the Wabash County Health Department. I am a contact tracer. I’m the guy who calls when you test positive and drives you nuts to remember who you’ve been around. One day we were notified of a family who tested positive and went to church that Sunday. As we worked the case with the church trying to identify those who were in close contact and inform them of their exposure, we started to get serious push back from the pastor and board. The pastor called and said that from now on they would no longer co-operate with the health department and would handle their own tracing. This was dumb and naïve. This attitude of ignoring a public health crisis stands in stark contrast to how Christians behaved during other plagues. Historian Rodney Stark states that
“one of the principal reasons Christianity grew while Roman paganism waned in the 1st-4th centuries was because of the mercy Christians displayed toward people who physically suffered, and in particular, how Christians showed mercy during two plagues that ravaged the Roman Empire”
Maybe one of the reasons that church attendance is falling in America is because the people who are supposed to show mercy and grace towards those who are suffering don’t.
I have a co-worker who’s father believes that the vaccine is the mark of the beast. I’ve heard and read that statement from others as well. This is a ridiculous sentiment and a flawed understanding of the Bible. I know of no reputable biblical scholar or theologian who would endorse that the COVID-19 quarantine or a vaccine is related to the “mark of the beast”. For starters, in Revelation, the “mark of the beast” is by no means a medical procedure. Most likely, it’s not even a physical or visible mark at all. Contrary to some of the more fear-inducing theories that have in the past gained steam in some evangelical circles, the “mark” is not at all something that could be accidentally taken either.
Why? Because the mark of the beast (Rev. 13:16-18) is a mark that is closely tied to the worship of the beast (13:12, 15; cf. 19:20; 20:4). Thus, the mark of the beast is a mark of loyalty and devotion to the beast.
Do we understand what we are doing? When we act like this we undercut the message we are trying to tell. When we act like this we aren’t being the effective messengers of Jesus. When we act like this we aren’t acting like Jesus,. Any pastor who downplays people’s concern or minimizes the suffering of people is not worthy to hold that title and is no shepherd worth following.
Stay tuned for part 2b
