The amount of carnage and suffering experienced this year will not be calculable. Some have endured so much pain and destruction. There has been suffering directly related to the virus—illness, death, uncertainty. And then fallout in the wake of the virus—lost jobs, lost relationships, isolation, depression, anxiety, death.
Then, there has been all the other normal suffering. The curse did not say, “Well, I’ve done enough related to the virus and things, so, I’ll pull back the reigns elsewhere.” It’s been a very difficult year for so many.
Add to that various governmental responses to the pandemic. No doubt, civil leaders have been in difficult positions, with difficult decisions before them. One of those has been the mandatory lockdowns. I don’t know what it’s like to serve as a civil ruler in these dark days. But there are some things we can say biblically and ecclesiologically about lockdowns.
Among other things, we know this: the virus has not been the most dangerous and harmful thing to the church. Discerning brethren said that from the beginning.
Since then we’ve had months and myriads of alarmist waves crashing over us. Now, a new set of mandatory lockdowns are among us. Mandatory universal lockdowns are abusive to society as a whole, though they may be situationally wise for some at times. The effectiveness of locking down to stop the virus from spreading is highly questionable. The detriment to society financially, socially, and emotionally from locking down is not. But that’s beyond the scope of this discussion. More to the point, lockdowns are certainly harmful to the society of the church.
It’s not the virus that’s been detrimental to healthy body life, but isolation. Many pastors have witnessed a declining spiritual health among certain sheep consequent of the mandatory isolationism. One of the great contributors to that declining health has been society’s fear-marketing in response to the virus. Doom, gloom, and worry got a lot of publicity this year. The public has been deluged with the message that they must be afraid; that it’s good to be frightened; indeed, you are morally superior if you are terrified. And if you’re not gripped with fear, you might be sinning. You’re wrong if you don’t think and preach and propagate worry. So, it’s the new righteousness to lock down. Today’s gospel is a be-afraid-and-socially-isolate-based righteousness.
The Apostle Paul taught that the entire law is summed up in loving your neighbor (Gal. 5:14). But in these times, “love thy neighbor” has taken a new form. It seems that the single way to love your neighbor is to lock down. “Love thy neighbor” means social isolation.
To preach mandatory universal lockdowns under the guise of “love thy neighbor” is hermeneutically abusive, however. It is to make an application of a text the interpretation of the text; to make “how might someone in a unique situation live this out,” “the single thing that this text means.”
But loving your neighbor does not mean “lock down and socially isolate.” One person might decide to stay home under the dictates of their conscience for the purpose of loving a neighbor in certain, highly-specific circumstances. But another, in right application of Scripture, may not isolate, not lock down, and not distance themselves socially, precisely in order to love their neighbor. The single-meaning of a text might have 100,000 applications. Add to that the individual conscience. “One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind” (Rom. 14:5). Add to that, God commands his people to walk by faith, fear him alone, practice the one anothers (e.g. Eph. 5:19, Heb. 3:12-14), gather for corporate worship (Heb. 10:24-25; cf. 1 Cor. 11:18a, 20a), and participate in body life in a local church (1 Cor. 14:26). Often all of this requires not locking down and not isolating.
Further, the preaching of mandatory universal lockdowns has been harmful to the purity of the essential faith-fellowship living of God’s people. The virus is real. For some it’s harmful. But, God’s way for his beloved elect is to walk by faith (2 Cor. 5:7, Heb. 11:1). That’s sort of the all-encompassing way of life. And one mandated way of life for his blood-bought church is togetherness. So, our togetherness as a church also requires faith; perhaps especially in times like these, where we’re subject to large doses of fear publicity and terror-based righteousness.
Many struggle even in non-pandemic times to obediently and enthusiastically immerse into a New Testament local church. Add to that these present times. And, enter the lockdown-based righteousness message we’re hearing and it’s disaster for many of these sheep. Bring in the ubiquitous societal rewards for social distancing and isolation, and these sheep face massive, unnecessary stumbling blocks.
The large doses of alarmism publicity has unnecessarily disturbed and frightened some of the sheep. Those who need not be afraid have been incited to fear obedience to the joys and necessity of body life together. I’ve witnessed it personally over this year. Alarmism publicity has caused many sheep to stumble, as they forsake the means of grace of biblical togetherness which is essential to spiritual and emotional health. Some have stumbled by forsaking fellowship, being uncertain and scared to partake of worship and gathering with the local church.
Many sheep already struggling with a godly desire to participate whole-heartedly in the togetherness-way of the local church have succumbed. It’s been the perfect storm for them. The societally-imposed (and sometimes, sadly, Christian-imposed) fabricated righteousness of locking down and isolating has paired with their spiritual weakness of lone-ranger desires. And it’s been spiritually catastrophic for some. The writer of Hebrew warns us of the potential and eternal catastrophe of isolationism (Heb. 3:12-14, 10:24-26).
Other sheep have been caused to stumble in response to churches doing body life online (which is no substitute for body life). Some have become disillusioned with corporate gatherings and home groups on a screen. You can’t blame them. It can hardly be done. It’s not meant to be done. Church away from church isn’t church. In response, some of these sheep grew apathetic to church life altogether and are living in unprecedented temptation to lone-ranger spirituality. Satan is probably happy about all of this.
Sheep are being taught that giving in to their temptations of self-centered Christianity is the way to “love thy neighbor.” They hear that the disbanding of fellowship, forsaking the assembling, and breaking the one anothers is how they can actually fulfill the summary of the law (cf. Gal. 5:14). Sure, their pastor may have lovingly come alongside them in the past to encourage them in the obedience of immersing in local church life. But it’s all drowned out now by a flood of socially-distanced-based righteousness. They’re hearing, in fact, that they are doing the right thing if they give in to their self-isolationist tendencies towards the Christian life.
These are difficult times for public policy makers and society as a whole. Many are suffering greatly in the wake of this virus. Christians lament this and wish harm befall no one. At the same time, we must keep in view the things which God says are essential. To socially isolate might be a situational application of loving one’s neighbor. But, for Christians, there are situations where locking down would be hating one’s neighbor.