As we continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, churches all over the U. S. are beginning to return to worship inside their facilities. As they do, each church is forced to wrestle with the realties that being indoors creates a degree of risk for the church body.
We are doing that here at Malvern Hill, and I don’t like it. I don’t like the potential risk. I don’t like the fact that every decision will be wrong and right. I don’t like the reality that some of our people can’t worship outside in the heat and others can’t worship indoors during a pandemic.
But, something I do like is that COVID-19 has forced us all to wrestle with the importance and necessity of worship. In the United States, we have grown comfortable with the safety and security of our worship spaces. But, safety in worship is a privilege we are never promised.
Worship of Christ is an act of protest against the governing powers of our world. Worship of Jesus is inherently dangerous because when we bow to Jesus we refuse to bow to the world. When we bow to Jesus, we turn our backs on kings and rulers. When we bow to Jesus, we affirm that our ultimate loyalty and allegiance is to another King in another realm.
As Christians, we hold dual citizenship in this world and Christ’s Kingdom. Inevitably, our dual citizenship will eventually create conflict. At some point my commitment to Christ will conflict with my commitment to my country or my political party or my place of employment or even my family. Regular worship serves not only to help me grow up in Christ, regular worship serves as a reminder to the world that my ultimate allegiance is to Christ.
Worship is dangerous because public worship is a declaration of freedom from the tyranny of the world and commitment to Christ.
Avoiding public worship during a time of pandemic is not wrong. But, let us be careful in demanding safety before we return to public worship. Safety in public worship is the privilege only of those of us blessed enough to live in a free country. Safety can never be a prerequisite to worship because worship was never intended to be safe.
When a group of believers in the New Testament were confronted with persecution because of their faith, the writer to the Hebrews urged them to continue to worship anyway:
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:24-25
As the pandemic lingers on, churches will continue to struggle to navigate the difficult terrain of indoor worship. We must do all we can to protect “the least of these” among us and to try to slow or stop the spread of COVID-19. However, beware of the dangers of safetyism. Any form of Christian worship that prioritizes safety above all else will eventually cease to be Christian worship. Christian worship is and always will be a form of protest and protests are inherently dangerous. The gospel is not a call to safety, but the call to come and die.
Pastor Craig, we have been blessed to join you and the Malvern Hill family for outdoor worship. My daughters and I have been members of Lugoff First Baptist for years but we had grown weary of watching our Sunday morning service online. The Morgans invited us to join them for outdoor Sun. morning worship and we are so thankful we have been able to attend for the last several weeks. Our church had restarted morning worship in our sanctuary 2 weeks ago but we had one or more test positive for COVID after the in person worship service. We were also not allowed to sing. We did not attend because I still believe that outdoor worship is the safest option. I’m a night owl but I’m willing to be at church on Sunday morning at 8:00 AM or earlier just so we can participate in person. Once again thank you for providing us with an opportunity to worship with our brothers and sisters in Christ in person over the last few weeks. We will continue to lift you and the Malvern Hill church family up in our prayers as you continue to navigate during this unprecedented time. We have been so blessed in this country to freely worship our Lord and Savior. I would also say that we have been spoiled by all the modern conveniences such as air conditioning, top notch sound systems and beautiful buildings. We also worry too much about how we look or what we wear to church. This pandemic has taken us back to a simpler view of life. We are the church (the people) not the buildings and we must be about God’s work of spreading the gospel. We shouldn’t focus on how we look on the outside but on lifting each other up as we worship our Lord and Savior. All too often we focus on what we want and not what we need. May God provide you and the church leadership wisdom to make the best decision for Malvern Hill. Thank you for offering multiple options for worship. God bless, Rose Jackson