For the past few months, our various governments have used the
fear of a relatively benign virus to cause all of us to hide in our homes like
scared children. In the meantime, they
are taking everything away from us: our parks, our businesses, our schools, and
even our churches.
To me, the greatest loss in all of this has been my loss of
faith in the American people to be intelligent and logical, and to stand up
against the tyranny of our government and demand their right to choose. I now believe that my countrymen would
sacrifice every freedom our forefathers left us if it meant temporary safety for
themselves. They hoped to gain by their
obedience, but in the end, they will loose even that which they thought they
had.
At the core of my despair is the attack on our religious freedoms
and the church’s general response to that attack. Throughout history, the faithful have been
the catalyst for great change and social justice. Martin Luther King and Martin Luther King Jr.
both came from places of great spiritual faith, and they brought transitional
and positive change. The pilgrims sought
religious freedom, even if it meant death, and it often did. The Christian faithful created most of the
good things we have on this earth; orphanages, homeless shelters, public hospitals,
public education, universities…these were all brought about by people who were
following the words of Jesus. These
individuals usually did these things in blatant disregard for their governing
bodies and most of the time under fear for their own lives.
Here in America, our churches have abandoned us. They have
refused to rise to the challenge and demand our rights to worship be sacred. I can hide in my house and praise my god, like
the Jews in Europe during the holocaust, but I’m not allowed to go stand with
my fellow believers. Instead of
rising up and saying, “But religious freedom IS essential,” the churches have in
general simply, quietly, closed their doors in fear.
I heard a pastor speak, one whose doors have not closed, and he said that
only one other pastor in the entire city was willing to stand shoulder to
shoulder with him and demand that the right to worship in a church be restored. That makes me sad. It makes me doubt any reason to go to church
or to tithe or to contribute my time.
Why would I continue to support any church who has no strength or desire
to support my freedoms?
The Bible tells us multitudinous times not to be
afraid. Yeshua commanded us repeatedly, “Fear
not.” Yet, here we shutter our churches
and hide in our homes in fear of a disease that surely our Father can protect
us from, should he choose to do so. Our Father has always demanded his faithful be
brave, stand up, do the impossible. The
list of those who obeyed in the face of certain destruction and death is
long. David, Gideon, Hezekiah, Isaiah,
Elijah, Esther, and the list goes on and on.
These people were surely afraid of disease and destruction and even death. But they were in awe of our Father and believed
that his faithfulness endures forever.
Here in America, we literally have a country because our
founders had faith in a higher power.
They faced death every single day, and never let that fear of their own
death keep them from birthing this country into existence. We all owe them a debt of gratitude.
*I* am not afraid to die of this disease. *I* am afraid of the world we will leave
behind for our children and grandchildren.
*I* am afraid of a government that is being allowed to dictate the terms
of our lives, and destroy our economy, and erode our freedoms, while those in
fear call evil good and good evil.
I will not live in fear.
I will not quarantine, and I will not live under house arrest. I will not wear a mask, and I will not hide
in my home to praise my god. My religious
freedoms are sacred, even if the churches and the government do not think
so.
Our pastors, who should be leading the charge for religious freedoms, have overwhelmingly failed us, save a few brave examples. They have quietly handed their churches over to the state and complied. Because when you let the state, any state, dictate the terms of your organization, gathering, or building, you are no longer the owner. The owner is the one with the authority to open or close the building; the owner is the one with the authority to set worship times and make the big decisions. The one making those decisions for our churches is the state, not the pastors or the congregations. So who owns the churches?
Church is not about the building, I get that. Church is about the people. When the people are not allowed to assemble
for worship, the church building and everything about it becomes irrelevant. Churches are already in decline in America. The population grows older and is dying off,
and the younger population doesn’t see the need for them. When the churches could have risen up and
been a beacon for hope and the security of our freedoms, they have quietly shuttered
themselves instead. When the churches
abandon us, the unfortunate result is us abandoning the churches.
Roosevelt said, “We have nothing to fear but fear
itself.” Those words were never more
true than they are today. Shalom and
blessings. May our Father protect the faithful from what it to come.
