May 13, 2020

Gov’t <- Obedience -> God

those caring for us say “Stay home!”

“An unpredictable death surrounds us!”

so I will not attend worship service

as my presence could harm another

period

full stop

end of discussion

their life is not a thing I can risk

yet if one were to tell me “Stop!”

“Don’t go lest you be punished!”

I doubt my absence would remain

Before someone tells me that my brothers and sisters

around the world face death in worship of our God,

continuing now as did members of the early Church,

and we should therefore disobey gov’t restrictions

on social gathering (to limit the spread of COVID-19)

or we risk disobeying God’s command for us to gather,

they must also be able to tell me why obeying God

allows me to put the life of my brother or sister at risk.

I’ve discussed this with several friends who say that our

obeying the gov’t social gathering restrictions puts us in

opposition to God’s command to gather, but God also

commands us to care for those weaker among us and,

as far as I can see, obeying these restrictions has more

the appearance of the latter than it has of the former.

Sometimes, obeying God requires obeying the gov’t.