I would like to wish each of my readers a happy New Year. I trust you had a blessed and Christ-centered Christmas celebration. I am presently in my office reflecting on the beautiful watch night service we had last night at Calvary Road Baptist Church. I am thrilled when young couples seize opportunities to bring their young children to the Church house. Doing so helps cultivate a sense of anticipation in their young minds and hearts that will prove helpful in reaching the children with the Gospel when they begin to comprehend its implications. On the other hand, I am always saddened, and people opt out of such opportunities to encourage and be a blessing to others.
2021 has been a year fraught with many difficulties, profound disappointments, incredible challenges, and acts of heroism known only to God. At every level of government and every institution in our culture, there has been both a wholesale abandonment of the rule of law and a commitment to the notion of truth. The hypocrisy demonstrated by elected officials and the usurpation of authority by lifelong bureaucrats, both of whom seem to be more committed to population control than to population care and welfare. It is challenging to be a Gospel minister, and the need for God’s grace and wisdom is great.
I am so grateful for Church members and pastors of other congregations who make it possible for the scheduled worship of God by a gathered people to continue. I rejoice that so many pastors exhibit Biblical, which is to say Baptist, convictions by recognizing that they do not have the Scriptural authority to discontinue public worship services. Gospel ministers are not legislators but executors.
Having a more sure word of prophecy, we who love and believe the Bible are certain about future events the Bible predicts. However, we remain uncertain about matters related to our immediate future. If we are not caught up in 2022, what new challenges will we face, and what old challenges must we deal with again.
Questions about the Covid virus, the efficacy of masks, the danger of vaccines, the ignoring of Nuremberg protocols, and the forced vaccines of citizens worldwide using vaxes with unknown side effects divide populations in every country threatens to divide congregations.
With different levels of spiritual maturity, differing amounts of understanding, various degrees of current information, and also possessing different spiritual gifts, we are prone to react differently to threats to our health and welfare. Our Lord prayed for unity, with that unity being a practical possibility within the congregation. Yet unity is properly understood to be something other than uniformity.
This becomes a perplexing problem to a Gospel minister, who is not a virologist, not a healthcare professional, and indeed not a personal physician. A Gospel minister’s calling is to preach the Word of God, shepherd the people of God, and encourage the worship of God. Yet we now live in an era in which people have been propagandized by different levels of government, big tech, and big Pharma, into being afraid of each other. This is a satanic and demonic coup, unlike anything I am aware of happening before.
This creates complications for the Gospel minister. On the one hand, to follow the example of the Good Shepherd, who left the 99 sheep that He might retrieve the one that had wandered, the Gospel minister will relentlessly reach out to those not attending to encourage them to participate in the public worship of God. Yet such activities by a pastor are perceived by some as a direct threat to their physical health and well-being. Suddenly, it is no longer seen as a good thing for the pastor to encourage people to attend Church!
Of course, this is alarming. Of course, this doesn't seem right. Nevertheless, people with strong opinions feel threatened by any pastor who urges them to attend Church. This is problematic because God has always wanted His people to gather for worship, even when it is dangerous to do so. Not that any believer should be irresponsible or reckless, but that every believer should exercise personal wisdom and accountability as a priest of God to weigh and balance the risk of danger with the importance of gathered worship.
How does a pastor handle this task? I am not sure I have that figured out. Functioning as a Gospel minister is a far more complicated matter at present than it has ever been in my experience. All I know how to do is encourage people to gather for worship. I do not know how to justify the decision not to gather for worship, the exception being an immediate danger to one’s physical health and well-being. Yet Christians have always gathered for worship at great risk to their personal safety and the safety of their friends and loved ones affected by the guilt of association.
One wonders how a mindless virus differs from a hateful tyrant. Whether it be a Caesar, a Pope, a Stalin, a Hitler, or a Mao, Christians throughout history and around the world risk their lives to honor God and exalt Christ. I honestly do not understand how a mindless virus should more affect our behavior. That is one reason why I am glad I am a Baptist and am committed to the concept of soul-liberty.
In an effort to contribute to the conversation, I offer two brochures to anyone who would like me to send them free of charge. Email me at Pastor@CalvaryRoadBaptist.Church, and I will drop them in the mail to you. Again, may God richly bless you with a happy New Year and a fruitful 2022 serving God in your Church.
