My Spiritual Journey Through the COVID Crisis
It has been my observation that within certain circles, Christians who do not wear masks or practice social distancing have been publicly shamed and accused of not caring, not putting others above themselves, or just being whiners. The point of this blog is to give solid biblical and historical reasons for our objections so we can put an end to all the straw man arguments, public shaming, and finger pointing that has been going on.
The year 2020 has seen the simultaneous global assault of twin pandemics: the coronavirus which attacks the body and social distancing/masking mandates which assault the soul. Eventually, there will be a vaccine for the first, but it will be second that disconnects us and destroys us like a slow growing cancer.
THE CASE FROM HISTORY
In order to get our bearings in dealing with any crisis, we have to know the facts about our history. There is nothing new under the sun. We are not living in unprecedented times. Anyone who has ever cracked a Bible will tell you that. People have been sick before. Pandemics have killed millions. This is nothing new. Wearing masks to fight disease is nothing new either. It has been going on since the beginning of recorded time.
The Stone Age. Ever since the stone age, people have been wearing masks to fight disease. When infectious diseases began to make their way through a population, human beings were aware that some invisible deadly force was at work. Of course back then they did not know about microorganisms, so they attributed the illnesses to “disease demons”. There is evidence that the areas of China, Japan, Africa, and North America practiced this from the Stone Age. It was believed that putting an organic mask over the nose and mouth and breathing into it would summon supernatural deities who would then inhabit the mask and fight off disease demons.
Age of Egyptian Pharaohs. This would have been the practice of the Egyptians during the time the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt. This is how they dealt with diseases, and the idol-worshipping Israelites would have been very accustomed to participating in these pagan practices. In addition, each god of the Egyptians during the time of the Old Testament Pharaohs had its own special mask. The Pharaohs and those of the nobility would wear the masks to summon the gods. Part of the reason God sent the specific plagues he did on Egypt was to disabuse the Israelites of the idea that these gods had this kind of power. Every plague was aimed at a particular god. (Exodus 12:12) Every plague showed God’s superior power.
The Exodus. When God delivered the Israelites from Egypt, he had his work cut out for him in getting them to abandon all their superstitious beliefs. At Mount Sinai, God gave Moses his own set of instructions for how to handle infectious diseases in the community. You can read all about it in Leviticus 13-15. His instructions were simple: Isolate the sick persons for 14 days and wash, wash, wash! Bathe your body and wash your clothes with water. That’s it! Sound familiar? God wanted his people to know that it is not other gods who would protect them from disease, but only God Himself! He even told them that if they followed his instructions, they would not have the diseases they saw in Egypt (Exodus 15:26). There is a whole psalm (91) dedicated to this idea. Unlike the pagan nations around them, God’s people did not wear masks. (There was another important reason that God did not want the Israelites wearing masks and it is addressed below under The Case From Creation.)
The Ministry of Jesus. When Jesus did his ministry, he was constantly in the presence of infected people. In fact, they were pressing in on him so much that when he once asked who touched him, Peter thought he was joking! Jesus never donned a mask to treat these infected people nor did he keep them six feet away. He never told his disciples to mask up either. In fact, he did the exact opposite. He got right up to the lepers and touched them! By doing this, he was showing Christians how to react to the sick among us—not with fear or loathing or suspicion or keeping our distance—but with compassion and healing touch. He taught us to lay hands on them and to take care of them, not desert them in their hour of need. Jesus even said, “If you seek to save your life, you will lose it, but if you lose your life for my sake you will find it.” If we lose our lives because we are following his example, we will be rewarded.
During every single global pandemic since Christ came, Christians have always been the ones to stay behind and care for the sick and dying so their unbelieving neighbors could flee to safety. It was a witness to the world that we were willing to lay down our lives for our friends so they could have more time to come to faith. Some of these Christians died. But they died following the example of Christ.
First Century Christianity. When Christianity began to spread throughout the world during the first century, one of the first things to happen was the toppling of idol gods. As Christianity took over, people also began to look at disease differently. Christians understood the strong association between masks and demon worship. Voodoo, totem poles, medicine men and masks eventually disappeared in Christianized societies.
1683 A.D. Through March, 2020. It wasn’t until 1683, when a Dutch scientist by the name of Antonie van Leeuwenhoek discovered microorganisms, that the scientific community validated God’s method of dealing with infectious disease. Ever since the discovery of microorganisms, the medical protocol for dealing with infectious disease was wash your hands and isolate the sick person. This has been the consensus of every civilized society, including the United States—until March of 2020.
THE CASE FROM CURRENT EVENTS
The atheistic communist government of China that brought us the coronavirus also brought back the mask and social distancing protocol (which was probably the ultimate goal all along). The Chinese have been using masks for centuries to demoralize and dehumanize their own people and they know how easy it is to make fearful people submit to anything. The Chinese already own our media, our big tech companies, our sports clubs, our politicians, and many of our doctors. Drug reps give HUGE financial benefits to doctors for prescribing drugs that can only be obtained in China. (No doubt someone will point out that surgeons wear masks during surgery. That is not because they believe they will prevent their patients from catching a virus. It has less to do with their patients than with their patients' lawyers. They are just covering their assets.) The only thing China doesn’t control is the church. The best way to accomplish that is to destroy the fellowship of believers.
Christian Fellowship vs. Social Distancing. The purpose of Christian fellowship is to bring people together in an atmosphere of trust, creating connection with warmth, hospitality and mutual affection. "Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor (Romans 12:10). The purpose of social distancing is to keep people apart. Social distancing and masking create an atmosphere of mistrust, fear and guilt. Because of fear and guilt, some Christians don’t even come to church at all any more, preferring to worship in isolation at home. Others come to church in masks and sit in isolated little groups. Both groups worship in virtual isolation.
It's the law! Here is the problem: The state is demanding that we keep our distance not only from sick people but from healthy people. Jesus has given us the opposite example—Christians are not to be afraid to walk among the sick, not to be afraid to touch them, not to desert them or ostracize them in their hour of need, but to minister to them in faith. The state encourages us to put our trust in masks for protection. Scripture calls us to put our trust in God—see Psalm 91. The state says that only a few can gather at a time, but Scripture warns us not to neglect the gathering of saints. When the state tells us to do the exact opposite of what Jesus modeled for us, we are to follow Jesus’ example regardless of the consequences. Today, some Christians not only stay away from the sick, they keep their distance from the healthy as well. They walk around wearing masks, suspicious of every person they meet or fearful that they, though healthy, could unwittingly commit negligent homicide. Where are the Christians who are willing to rise above this? Where are the ones who are willing to follow the example of Jesus? The result of following the state mandates is that churches have lost far more members to social distancing than they have to the coronavirus.
It’s Such A Little Thing To Ask. I have heard the argument that we should practice social distancing and mask up “because it is such a little thing to ask.” Is it? In some churches they have given up choir, they have given up sitting shoulder to shoulder as they sing and recite the creeds, they have given up passing the collection plate, they have given up eating real bread and drinking real wine, they have given up their potlucks and picnics, they have given up passing the peace of Christ with a warm handshake, they have given up extending the right hand of fellowship to newcomers, and they have failed to embrace each other at funerals. In extreme cases, church members have been banned from entering their own church buildings if they refuse to mask up, and they have been publicly shamed and blamed for creating division in the church. This is not a little thing!
Social distancing is completely incompatible with Christian fellowship. Rather than recognize that, some churches have willingly given up everything that made their corporate worship meaningful, everything that connected them and brought them together as a unified body. Grace has been replaced by law enforcement. This is not going to get better; it is going to get worse. As I write this, France and England are banning public worship all together.
It’s Only Temporary. I have also heard the argument from many that this is only temporary and therefore we should just go along with it because things will return to normal soon. This implies that if this were a permanent thing, then of course we would not agree to it. My response is that if something is wrong in the long term, it is wrong in the short term. If it is wrong, it is wrong. Period. Every single decision we make, no matter how small or how temporary has eternal consequences. Every single decision we make either brings us closer to the Promised Land or takes us back toward bondage in Egypt. If we would not agree to social distancing and wearing masks in church for the rest of our lives, we shouldn’t be doing it now.
I Am Willing To Suffer For the Sake of Others. This sounds very noble. However, not all suffering is righteous. Not all suffering brings glory to God or expands the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus condemned the Pharisees for their public displays of “suffering” while fasting, and there is nothing that says “virtue signaling” like plastering a mask across your face. How does keeping our distance from healthy people and refusing to let grandparents see their grandchildren glorify God? How does refusing to sit next to people in your church glorify God? How does acting like we are terrified of physical illness glorify God? How does it show that we have no fear of death? How does it set us apart from the world? We should be willing to suffer for the sake of others by risking our own lives: We should be willing to shake the hand of everyone and embrace the lonely and socially isolated whether they are healthy or sick. That is the kind of suffering that reaps eternal reward.
THE CASE FROM CREATION
As I mentioned above, there is a case from creation that we also need to look at. According to the Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 12:18-25, God created and designed the human body and arranged all the parts the way he did for a particular reason. Some parts were designed to be hidden and some parts were designed to be exposed. We once had dinner with a Baptist pastor and his wife, and during the course of the dinner we got to talking about how God amazingly designed the human body and the pastor said, “Only God would think of putting the playground in the middle of the sewer system!” It sounds funny at first because we would never build a park or school playground in a sewer. But on further reflection, we understand that God wanted certain parts of our bodies to be more protected so he placed them where they would be completely covered and protected. The same thing is true about the parts of the body that he wants us to keep uncovered. He put our oxygen-receiving and food-receiving organs on our face so we would never cover up our faces. A close reading of the passage in I Corinthians reveals God’s motive for designing our faces the way he did. Here is what we find:
I Corinthians 12:18 But as it is God arranged the members of the body, each one of them, as he chose... 22-24 ...the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require.
The English word "presentable" does not do justice to the idea behind Paul's words. We tend to think of it as "able to be presented" rather than "arranged or designed to be presented." The explanation given by the Greek word below gives us a better understanding.
euschemon: comely (translated presentable in ESV)
Usage: comely, attractive, seemly, of honorable position
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance says this:
2158/eusxmon ("comely") focuses on the outward manifestation of godliness as being winsome (encouraging) to others which attracts attention in a positive way. (See I Cor. 12:24)
(Paul is merely using the body as an analogy here--not as a theological discourse on anatomy. But he uses this analogy because people are so familiar with it that he doesn't even have to name the parts of the body that should be covered or not covered. Everybody instinctively knows which parts are meant to be hidden and which parts are meant to be presented.)
From this we gather that God has arranged the body in a particular way which gives obvious prominence to the face. The face has the most honorable position on the body. The reason given is that it focuses on the "outward manifestation of godliness." This means that the face is the part of the body where God's image is most prominently displayed. It is the part that "attracts attention in a positive way." It is an encouragement to others--which brings glory to God. The Jews believed that seeing a human face was like seeing the face of God himself (Gen. 33:10).
But how do we know this is what God thinks? We know this because God has stated it more clearly in the Old Testament. In Exodus 28, God describes the clothes that the priests will wear while performing their duties. Two things stand out: God makes sure they are wearing linen undergarments to "cover their nakedness." These garments covered them from their hips to their thighs. Ritual nakedness was practiced in other ancient religions and this set Israel apart. Secondly, God dressed the priests in a way that brought attention to their face. Exodus 28:40 says, "For Aaron's sons you shall make coats and sashes and caps. You shall make them for glory and for beauty." In pagan nations, the priests would wear masks with ugly demon-like faces on them. So once again, God was setting Israel apart.
Christians have always taught their daughters about modesty. When we teach them how to dress, we tell them not to wear clothes that draw attention to the parts of the body that are supposed to be covered, but to dress in a way that draws attention to their face. We do this because that is how God himself would dress a woman. In Ezekiel 16:9-13, God is talking to Israel about how he rescued her and brought her up from infancy and washed her and dressed her. He covers her nakedness by robing her in fine linen and silk. He draws attention to her face by adorning her with a necklace, a nose ring and earrings. He also draws attention to her hands by putting bracelets on her wrist, and he puts beautiful leather sandals on her feet. He does it all for the sake of beauty and glory.
There is no question that God means for our reproductive organs to be covered, and for our faces to shine with the reflection of his glory. If people think it is a sin to walk around naked from the waist down, then it is just as much a sin to cover the face.
The kind of discomfort that comes from wearing a mask--difficulty breathing, facial rashes and acne, mouth infections that dentists are reporting, as well as the dehumanizing psychological effects people experience--are the natural consequences of not doing what God requires. We live in a society that mandates masks and condones wearing thongs on a public beach. Should we be conforming to that?
Throughout the history of the world, masks have never been associated with anything good. When Christians participate in behavior that has forever been associated with pagan rituals, secret societies, cults, and criminal behavior, God is not glorified. Our clothing is an outward expression of who we belong to and what we believe. (I would not wear a T-shirt that says, "My body, my choice.") When we cover our faces, even if our masks don't have the faces of false gods painted on them, we cover the reflection of God's face. Even slimy reprobates like Mark Zuckerberg understand the importance of the human face. He has made billions because he knows that the mere image of a human face is enough to give us the illusion of human connection. Can you imagine going on FaceBook if all you ever saw was pictures of elbows and knees and big toes?
CONCLUSION
We are living in an age where misinformation abounds. Everybody has an agenda. I can't trust the government, I can't trust the media, I can't trust Google or FaceBook, I can't trust some of the people in my church, and most of all, I can't trust myself. There is only one person that I can trust unwaveringly and that is Jesus Christ. I have no choice but to look at his example and follow it. He never kept anyone six feet away. He walked among the sick and actually touched and embraced the most contagious. So did his disciples. He taught us not to fear illness and death, but to risk our very lives doing what he did. I won't lie--I questioned him every morning about whether this was the right thing to do in these circumstances. And every morning, he took my face in his hands and said, "Look at Me. Fix your eyes on Me. Shut out all the other voices and listen to Me. I do what I see the Father doing. You follow my example."
I haven't worn a mask since March of 2020. I've gone to Price Choppers and Walmarts, beauty salons, Quik Trips, Dollar General, liquor stores, and restaurants, and no one has ever thrown me out or even questioned me. We have had people to our house two or three times a week over the course of the summer and we shook hands and hugged everyone who came and shared our food and had great fellowship. Our home was four acres of normal in a world gone crazy.
What would you do if Jesus walked up to the door of your church on Sunday morning? Would you tell him to either cover his face or go home? Would you refuse to shake his hand? Would you tell him to keep his distance? Would you tell him to stay in his designated pew while you passed the peace? If he wanted to break the bread at communion, would you tell him that you don’t eat anything that has been touched by human hands?
“Whatsoever you have done to the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto Me.”
Speaking of the least of these, it makes me almost physically ill to see children wearing masks at our local schools. To treat these little ones in such a demeaning, dehumanizing way is a sin. The psychological and spiritual effects of this will affect them for a long time to come.
I can no longer attend events where I am given the choice of violating my conscience or staying away. I have to stay away. I refuse to treat my brothers and sisters in Christ in a way that is anything short of true Christian fellowship. If I am at an event with you, you can expect a smile, a warm handshake or a hug. You might even get the first bite of my donut.
