Part 1 of a 4-part series on the American churchs’ response to Covid-19 related restrictions.
One time in High School, some friends and I took a road trip to visit a friend who had moved out to college in Pittsburgh. Coming from the Philadelphia area, it was basically a straight shot west across the state. I wasn’t driving, so I got to sit back and enjoy the beautiful scenery of autumn in Pennsylvania without a care. After about 2 hours, we saw a sign for a college town that we thought was in the more northern part of the state. Concerned about our trajectory, we pulled over at the next rest area to look at a map and found that, sure enough, we had gone slightly off course a few degrees to the north from the beginning, and had ended up in the middle of the state. Had we continued on that course, we would have ended up in Erie, or Buffalo, hundreds of miles away from our desired destination. We had lost some time and fuel, but were able to reroute and get back on track to arrive in Pittsburgh before nightfall.
It doesn’t take a great change in direction to get completely off course. One minor pivot left unaddressed will take you to a totally unintended destination. This is true in all of life, including the church. The introduction of even one seemingly inconsequential unbiblical practice has the potential to send the church on a deviated course that, in time, would render it leagues adrift from the waters it had intended to reach. Dramatic changes, such as partnering with political initiatives, has historically led to a completely adulterated version of Christianity, rendering it largely unrecognizable from its origin and, in doing so, presented the world with a tragic misrepresentation of an exclusive God. Christ followers around the world are continually working to reverse the detrimental legacy of these practices.
“Come as you are” became the slogan of the contemporary church in recent decades not because it has a nice ring to it, but because it signaled the necessary turn of the church back to the fundamental, inclusive, principles of Christ after hundreds of sects and denominations over hundreds of years ended up a long way from Christ’s intentions, carving a path to legalism. Mingling with politics and culture, church leaders had put in place prerequisites and expectations for church attendees, as well as for salvation. This disastrous deviation from Christ’s simple, loving intentions, spurred immeasurable and heartbreaking results, even inspiring a new psychological term into our lexicon – “spiritual abuse”.
In my adult life, I’ve met a surprising number of people who carry the pain of past spiritual hurt and who live with painful scars of hurts inflicted by the church and its people. Some were abandoned by a parent who joined a radical religious sect, some forbidden by their church beliefs to go to school (even though their parents gave up on homeschooling them), some living with self-destructive guilt and shame for never being able to measure up to their church’s ultra-holy and severe expectations.
“Come as you are” is the signal call of a new kind of church – a timely attempt to return to the apostolic beginnings of the church. A return to the time when disciples of Christ simply shared the good news with anyone who wanted to listen. For those from a legalistic church background, this new, simple approach seems radical! But, as B.T Roberts wrote, and church leaders throughout history agreed, “The Bible is a radical book.” It calls for the people of God to provide an open door through which all sinners can walk, uninhibited, to hear and to experience the life-transforming truths of unconditional love and acceptance in Christ.
“Come as you are” is not just a catchy phrase to me. It is a lifeline, and a basic, ESSENTIAL element of any church that truly represents God.
Having lived rebelliously for many years, carrying heavy shame and self-hate as a result of the circumstances and choices of my early life, rejection from the “good” people of the world was woven into the fabric of my identity from a young age. I could never be good enough, and the thought of being accepted unconditionally by a group of “good” people was laughable. I was an outlier – untouchable and unlovable.
But one divine appointment with the strange people of a small and genuine church community a thousand miles from my home shattered this deeply ingrained belief.
While staying alone in California during the summer after graduation, I just couldn’t seem to make any connections with the people of this foreign land. I grew disenchanted and sorrowful in my loneliness. My self-loathing was affirmed, and it now seemed obvious that I was unlovable. Then one Sunday, my cousin took me to church, where I met Dan. Despite my very worldly and “not-church-appropriate” clothing, accessorized with piercings and hair, Dan invited me to a fellowship night with the church. He didn’t flinch when I showed up thick with make-up and baring more skin than a self-respecting woman would dare show. They involved me in their games, they smiled at me, and Dan even invited me to join him for coffee on another day. Usually guys only invited me out for one reason, but Dan was different. He didn’t want anything from me. He was just being a friend. It was strange and wonderful. Coffee with Dan gave me hope.
My shame was deep and prevented me from really allowing myself to become part of a church family for almost 20 more years following my encounter with Dan. But finally, near age 40, I was fully grafted into the family of God and became a member and ministry leader at a warm and welcoming church. I finally felt like I belonged and that I was loved and accepted unconditionally. It was life-altering!
“I can’t wear a mask because it triggers my PTSD from past abuse.”
“I don’t wear a mask because God created our bodies to live on fresh air and taking in oxygen is essential to my health.”
“Requiring people to wear masks is degrading/dehumanizing.”
“Wearing a mask is a symbol of submission to perverse government authorities, and I can’t do that because I only submit to God.”
“Forcing everyone to wear a mask is an occult practice and I will never do it.”
“I don’t wear masks because they don’t actually block coronavirus and it would be irresponsible of me to make people think they’re safe when they’re really not.”
“I can’t support the masking of the population because it is increasing child kidnappings and sex trafficking.”
“The Holy Spirit has convicted me that I should never wear a mask.”
“I will never put a mask on my children …(insert any of the many valid reasons).”
These are all reasons that I have heard form Christians in my life who oppose mask requirements. Is it the church’s job to judge these opinions and use them as a reason to exclude such people from participating in church life? I have sought the scriptures and can find no Biblical reason to justify judgment in these cases. These beliefs are not sins, or, as the media and culture would have us think, selfish and unfounded opinions. Many of the reasons Christians hold for objecting to masks come from a place of selflessness, devotion to Christ, and obedience to the Holy Spirit. Now rejected by their church for holding a differing view on mask wearing, these beloved children of God have been severed from the body of Christ that they thought was built on unconditional loving acceptance. They are church-homeless. It is confusing, shocking, and painful. For many, it is a hope-crushing repeat of a past church rejection.
Is this a new, culturally-acceptable, world-imposed form of spiritual abuse? Is there a place in God’s Kingdom for the maskless? Of course there is! So shouldn’t there be a place for them in every Jesus-loving church?
Charmaine Rusin 