Under Shepherds, Represent the Great Shepherd

Some readers of Sojournal may be disappointed that for months now we have moved away from our typical content and focussed on issues covid, particularly the mandates and the tyranny that is being imposed on a once free people. I make no apology for this. Nor are words like tyranny out of place, contrary to the opinions of well-meaning friends who think I’ve gone off the deep end. I am not a slave, and I will not be dictated to by a deity grasping state about what I will put in my body. To hell with that. And I mean that quite literally – that grasping authoritarianism is reminiscent of the evil one himself and clearly signals its diabolical origins. So covid dominates, because this is the issue of our time. This is where the battle currently is, and to ignore it is a dereliction of duty for those who claim to be followers of the king. Unfortunately in too many churches in New Zealand, covid and the issues arising from it have been studiously ignored and ‘spiritual’ matters focussed on. All hell (literally) seems to be breaking loose in our little country, and many under-shepherds of Christ seem content to lull the sheep into a false sense of security rather than train them up for battle and prepare for persecution. Some have even joined the enemy.

Really? Well, take the case of vaccine passports for church services. I know of a number of what I once considered healthy Christian churches that have implemented these. Of course, there are always ‘Christian’ sounding excuses – the building we are hiring requires it, hardly anyone who is unvaccinated attends our congregation, the unvaccinated can always watch our services online, or we have people who could get very sick if they caught covid. Implicit in this last excuse is the assumption that covid transmits more readily from unvaccinated people. This is a tenuous claim at best given the way it seems to be spreading at places requiring a covid passport at the moment, and if pastors really were concerned about the safety of members of the congregation, they would be better purchasing and requiring the use of rapid tests to ensure even the vaccinated members of their congregation aren’t likely to pass on the dreaded lurgy.

What would the Great Shepherd of the sheep have to say to these under-shepherds? I don’t know for sure, but we do know what Christ in his Word says about a situation that is analagous. Here’s what James the brother of Jesus had to say in a letter to early Christian churches.

My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?  Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong? If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers…..Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. – James 2:1-9, 12-13

Substituting poor for unvaccinated and rich for vaccinated or at times state leaders for much of this passage is an interesting exercise. James is making the point that the church ought not to show favouritism to the rich over against the poor. Partiality is a sin, since all are made in the image of God, and all are welcome to come to Christ. Now while our churches might not be showing partiality to the rich, there is certainly partiality shown to the vaccinated by some churches. The poor unvaccinated folks don’t even have the privilege of being told to sit at someone’s feet. They can’t even make it into the building.

Pastors who enforce vaccine passport entry to their churches are denying the gospel by precluding the unvaccinated lost sheep and children of God from gathering. The unvaccinated are not exploiting or persecuting the church – it is the government that is doing that, but the unvaccinated are being treated as second-class Christians by many church leaders who seem content to shepherd the 99 90%.

Some will claim that this is a different kind of partiality, and acceptable. As Christians, we ought to protect people and as Jesus said, when challenged about healing on the Sabbath – we ought to save life not kill. Therefore, we should prevent people that pose a risk of death to others from attending our services. But they forget that our Lord was willing to touch the leper when others shunned him. In fact, our whole salvation is a picture of the spotless (think healthy) associating with and becoming dirt (think unhealthy) that we might be clean. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). Early Christian history is full of stories of followers of the king who would risk their wealth, health and safety for the lives of others. This seems largely forgotten by the modern Western church where Christ seems at times to have been swapped for health wealth and prosperity.

We know that our leaders have never before banned people without the flu vaccine from attending church in winter, despite the fact that influenza and colds are big killers of the elderly and frail. At most leaders in the past have encouraged those who were sick to stay at home to avoid passing their germs on, which most of us tend to do anyway. I think it is safe to say that very few church leaders would have gone ahead with vaccine passports for their services if they were not compulsory for gatherings of over 25 (and now at orange 50). They seem more than happy to meet with unvaccinated people outside of church meetings and even let them be around their families, so it seems that practically many leaders do not buy the covid panic. Yet they have enforced vaccine passports. In other words, they are allowing the church to be led by the Lord and Saviour State rather than Jesus Christ. This of course has been obvious for some time given many pastors’ refusal to follow Christ’s command to not forsake meeting together. A failure in courage and small instances of disobedience never make it easier to obey. Rather, they lead to further compromise and more egregious idolatry. We should be wondering what compromise is next for those pastors and churches who have failed at this point.

The Delta variant kills around 0.2% of those it infects, and this figure will be higher than the actual figure given the fact that dying with covid is recorded as a covid death (we had a chap here who was shot dead but recorded as a covid death) and that many minor cases of covid will not be picked up since people may not see the need to be tested in these cases. Omicron seems at this stage likely to have a far lower infection fatality rate than Delta. This is not exactly the plague, but we could take a leaf out of our fathers in the faith who in second and third-century plagues cared for the sick and were perhaps one key reason for the explosion of the church according to the historian Rodney Stark.

What should you do? If you have been attending a church that has enforced vaccination passports, challenge your leaders. With humility, rebuke them and urge them to repent of the sin of partiality which denies the gospel of Jesus Christ. If they refuse to repent, leave the church and find a church that refuses to bow before the idol of health or state. If you are feeling alone as a result of the passport system and don’t have anywhere to gather for worship, please use the contact form and we will endeavour to put you in contact with Christians who won’t show partiality. God is at work sifting his church. Under-shepherds of the Good Shepherd will give an account for their work (Hebrews 13:17). Meanwhile, here on earth, I suspect there will be consequences for how churches conduct themselves. God is a rock and refuge to the unjustly oppressed.