We are in strange times as a church. We have been asked to not meet physically in order to stop the spread of a global pandemic.

At the same time, the Lord commands us to NOT forsake the assembling of ourselves together (Heb. 10:24-25).

This leaves us in a state of moral question, which has a host of potentially important questions.

These questions, to my thinking, are as follows:

Should we obey the order to not meet?
Is there ever a time when we would disobey that order, and how long should we obey?
What if we think the virus scare is overblown?
How do our civil liberties affect the command to not meet?

In order to cover these questions, there will be a number of posts.

1. Should we obey?
The first question is perhaps the simplest to answer. Should we obey the command to not meet for a short time for the sake of public health. The answer, very simply, is yes.

“Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.” ~ Romans 13:1

"Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.” ~ 1 Peter 2:13

We are called by God to obey the authorities because they have been established by God. He has put Donald Trump, Gavin Newsom, local mayors, and all their advisors in power.

We may or may not appreciate the political views these men and women hold, but we are called to obey them.

But they’re bad!
We may not agree with all the views these political leaders hold. We may think they’re responding to the crisis incorrectly. We may feel that our civil rights are being violated.

Paul and Peter understood all those feelings. After all, they were under the authority of Emperor Nero—not a paragon of human virtue by all accounts.

And yet they called Christians to obey laws that may even be unjust.

Why? To be weak? NO! Instead, to trust that God was in sovereign control. The same God that loves us and sent His Son to die for our sins has installed our governing authorities. We must trust His wisdom above our own, and submit ourselves to those who are over us.

Pastors' Posts

Obeying Government (?) - Part 1

We are in strange times as a church. We have been asked to not meet physically in order to stop the spread of a global pandemic.

At the same time, the Lord commands us to NOT forsake the assembling of ourselves together (Heb. 10:24-25).

This leaves us in a state of moral question, which has a host of potentially important questions.

These questions, to my thinking, are as follows:

Should we obey the order to not meet?

Is there ever a time when we would disobey that order, and how long should we obey?

What if we think the virus scare is overblown?

How do our civil liberties affect the command to not meet?

In order to cover these questions, there will be a number of posts.

1. Should we obey?
The first question is perhaps the simplest to answer. Should we obey the command to not meet for a short time for the sake of public health. The answer, very simply, is yes.

“Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.” ~ Romans 13:1

"Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.” ~ 1 Peter 2:13

We are called by God to obey the authorities because they have been established by God. He has put Donald Trump, Gavin Newsom, local mayors, and all their advisors in power.

We may or may not appreciate the political views these men and women hold, but we are called to obey them.

But they’re bad!
We may not agree with all the views these political leaders hold. We may think they’re responding to the crisis incorrectly. We may feel that our civil rights are being violated.

Paul and Peter understood all those feelings. After all, they were under the authority of Emperor Nero—not a paragon of human virtue by all accounts.

And yet they called Christians to obey laws that may even be unjust.

Why? To be weak? NO! Instead, to trust that God was in sovereign control. The same God that loves us and sent His Son to die for our sins has installed our governing authorities. We must trust His wisdom above our own, and submit ourselves to those who are over us.

Pastors' Posts

We are in strange times as a church. We have been asked to not meet physically in order to stop the spread of a global pandemic.

At the same time, the Lord commands us to NOT forsake the assembling of ourselves together (Heb. 10:24-25).

This leaves us in a state of moral question, which has a host of potentially important questions.

These questions, to my thinking, are as follows:

Should we obey the order to not meet?

Is there ever a time when we would disobey that order, and how long should we obey?

What if we think the virus scare is overblown?

How do our civil liberties affect the command to not meet?

In order to cover these questions, there will be a number of posts.

1. Should we obey? The first question is perhaps the simplest to answer. Should we obey the command to not meet for a short time for the sake of public health. The answer, very simply, is yes.

“Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.” ~ Romans 13:1

"Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.” ~ 1 Peter 2:13

We are called by God to obey the authorities because they have been established by God. He has put Donald Trump, Gavin Newsom, local mayors, and all their advisors in power.

We may or may not appreciate the political views these men and women hold, but we are called to obey them.

But they’re bad! We may not agree with all the views these political leaders hold. We may think they’re responding to the crisis incorrectly. We may feel that our civil rights are being violated.

Paul and Peter understood all those feelings. After all, they were under the authority of Emperor Nero—not a paragon of human virtue by all accounts.

And yet they called Christians to obey laws that may even be unjust.

Why? To be weak? NO! Instead, to trust that God was in sovereign control. The same God that loves us and sent His Son to die for our sins has installed our governing authorities. We must trust His wisdom above our own, and submit ourselves to those who are over us.

1. Should we obey?
The first question is perhaps the simplest to answer. Should we obey the command to not meet for a short time for the sake of public health. The answer, very simply, is yes.

But they’re bad!
We may not agree with all the views these political leaders hold. We may think they’re responding to the crisis incorrectly. We may feel that our civil rights are being violated.