Holding A Church Service When You’re On Lockdown Isn’t Radical Obedience, It’s A Denial Of God’s Authority

Mike Leake 1 Comment

photo-1556848523-aca5246de730A couple days ago Rodney Howard-Browne, a false teacher in Florida, was arrested for holding services against a state mandate. There are quite a few moving parts to this discussion—and as such I’m a bit hesitant to enter in here. So rather than speaking of Howard-Browne or other pastors being arrested I want to speak of a general principle here.

I do not believe it is religious persecution for law enforcement to enforce a ban which includes holding religious services. Nor do I believe it is bold and God-honoring to hold such services in the face of a government lockdown. Let me explain why.

First, if churches were the only ones targeted then we have a much different discussion. I understand that some are upset because they feel the government is saying that a church meeting together is not an “essential service”. But “essential service” is less about whether or not you are important and more about whether or not your NOT gathering in physical proximity would do more harm than good. You cannot administer CPR online. Oil, electricity, food services, etc. require physical proximity to accomplish the task at hand. But you can reasonably gather and feed your flock online.

Secondly, this is a Romans 13 situation and not an Acts 5:39 situation. In Acts 5:39 the government was attempting to stop the spread of the gospel. In such an instance you must go against the government. But consider a few things about Romans 13:1-7

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Verse 3 is key here. When the governments actions are for the furtherance of “good conduct” they are rightly “bearing the sword’. They are doing what God has called upon them to do. And so, yes, it is well within the God-given rights of a government to shut down assembly for the good of the people. It is not infringing upon religious liberty to do so.

Notice, though, what Paul is saying here. (And keep in mind the wicked Roman emperors who were in charge at this time). He is saying that to disobey the authorities that God has placed over you is to disobey God Himself. So it isn’t bold. It’s God-belittling. It’s not trusting in the sovereign care of God. It’s a prideful act of rebellion.

Yes, there are times to disobey government. There are times for revolutions. There might come a time to fight for religious liberties. But this is not one of them. Saying, “I must obey God rather than man” in this situation is self-contradictory. Because God has told you in his Word that when the government is “God’s servant for your good” you obey God by obeying them.

So, in my mind, these orders are not infringing upon our religious freedom. However, Howard-Browne and others, by ignorantly and rebelliously going against the government in such a time as this, are actually putting in place things which could eventually lead to a loss of religious freedoms.

Here is the principle. If the government’s aim is for our good then we rightly trust in God’s sovereignty and obey. To disobey is not a mere difference of opinion it’s actually a matter of obedience. And I don’t think it’s by accident that several of those still having services are health and wealth prosperity-gospel false teachers. It shouldn’t surprise us that those who do not submit to God’s Word theologically would not submit to God’s governance practically.

Now,if the government’s aim is for tyrannically shutting down the gospel (and it’s discriminatory) then we absolutely must trust in God’s sovereignty and disobey. If they tell us we can no longer meet online—then we have a problem. If they allow some “non-essential” things to resume but not the church, then we have a problem. But we aren’t there at this point.

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Be Still and Know The Context

Mike Leake

photo-1463385676620-a37609440d4bI keep seeing Psalm 46:10 pop up these days. And it’s almost always used out of context. Most use this verse as a quiet and peaceful silence before the Lord. “Rest in the presence of the Lord” is what most are meaning when they quote this verse. The theology is true but it’s not honest to what Psalm 46:10 is actually saying. Good theology from wrong verses tends to have unhealthy fruit, so I thought it might be helpful for us to see what Psalm 46:10 is saying in its context.

Psalm 46 was Martin Luther’s favorite psalm. It’s been, rightly, used by followers of God for years as an encouragement when it seems like all the earth is giving way. In fact, that’s what the psalmist is doing in the first part of the psalm. When the worst possible thing happens God is still a certain refuge. When his presence is our greatest good we have no reason to fear because we know that He is going to accomplish His purposes in the world.

But Psalm 46:10 is unique to this psalm. Everything else in the psalm is written in third person. But in verse 10 God steps in and speaks with a command. “Be still” might be better translated as the KJV does, “cease striving”. It means to drop down your weapons. It’s fundamentally speaking not to the people of God but to that nations which are giving the psalmist so much trouble.

Some who have read this have been thrown by the change from third person to first person. And in doing this they say that God certainly is still speaking to Israel. I disagree. God is speaking for Israel but to the enemy.

Imagine a father watching on as his son is being bullied by another boy. At first he doesn’t respond because he wants to see how his son handles the situation. He knows that there is a bit of toughening which can happen in a moment like this. And so he remains silent. But eventually, as he sees his little boys world starting to crumble, he steps in and uses his power to silence the bully. “Alright, that’s enough! You need to stop the teasing.” That father is speaking for his son, but to the bully. And that is what God is doing here.

When God tells them that he will be exalted among the nations, that he will be exalted in the earth he is flexing his muscle. He is reminding both Israel and the enemies that they’re fighting a losing battle and they ought to drop their weapons. Stop fighting against YHWH because it’s a foolish and losing battle. Instead make him your refuge. 

So how do we apply this as believers?

Certainly, there is something to be said for us when we are kicking against God’s sovereign action in our lives. I think Peter is saying something similar in 1 Peter 5:6-7. Humbling ourselves under his mighty hand is another way of encouraging believers to “be still” in the midst of suffering. As Schreiner notes,

“The humbling enjoined probably means that they are to accept the suffering God has ordained as his will instead of resisting and chafing against his will while suffering.” (Schreiner, 239) 

So, yes, we must cease warring against our loving Father if that is what we are doing. But Psalm 46:10 is predominately meant as an encouragement. It’s a reminder to the people of God that our King will be exalted among the nations. The earth will melt, the chaotic sea will be calmed. It’s probably not an accident that Jesus uses the words, “be still” when he spoke to the raging sea.

“Be still and know that I am God” is not a call for passivity as much as it is a call to actively watch as God continues His work of redemption. He is calming the sea. He is silencing the enemy. He is going to be exalted among the nations. And if that’s your hearts desire then it’s a call to be deeply encouraged. God wins. And if you’re in him, so do you.

If you are warring against God, stop.

If you are in the boat and the waves of the chaotic sea are threatening you, then actively watch and trust and refuse fear as you wait to hear the King declare, “Be still!”

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The Word I Wrongly Supplied to Philippians 4:4-9

Mike Leake

photo-1523537444585-432d2bacc10dSTOP!

That was the word.

I’ve taught on Philippians 4:4-9 for a number of years. In fact it’s even been a passage that has helped me with my own anxiety. One particular strategy that I employed was to use something I called STOP cards. On one side I wrote in big letters the word ‘stop’. On the other side I wrote the words of Philippians 4:8. The idea was to stop by negative thinking and begin thinking about the positive stuff.

But the word “stop” isn’t anywhere in this text. The only negative sounding imperative is in verse 6, “Do not be anxious” and that’s there as a foil for the admonition to pray continually. Don’t be anxious but instead pray.

Now it’s not completely ridiculous to assume that you’d need to stop thinking negatively in order to take up meditating on whatever is true, noble, praiseworthy, etc. It’s basic logic. If you’re hands are at maximum capacity you’ll need to drop one thing in order to pick up another.

But I’ve come to believe that the STOP! step is, at best, unnecessary and at worst, harmful. One particular study, conducted by Alison Wood Brooks, found that trying to “relax and calm down” was not the best strategy for dealing with anxiety. But rather reappraising anxiety as excitement actually helped significantly.

In other words, we can expend a ton of energy trying to make ourselves calm down when what we really ought to do is convert that energy. Adam Grant says it well:

Fear is an intense emotion: You can feel your heart pumping and your blood coursing. In that state, trying to relax is like slamming on the brakes when a car is going 80 miles per hour. The vehicle still has momentum. Rather than trying to suppress a strong emotion, it’s easier to convert it into a different emotion—one that’s equally intense, but propels us to step on the gas. (Grant, 216)

What Grant and Brooks are saying is, I believe, precisely what Paul was saying in Philippians 4. That “different emotion” for the Christian is one of praise and focus on the Lord.

I still land at the same spot. We do well for our mental health to spend our days meditating on what is true and noble and praiseworthy instead of the muck of this world. But I don’t believe there should be time spent trying to “calm down and relax”. Whenever we feel anxiety creep up our job isn’t to focus on “don’t be anxious” it is to focus on “let your requests be made known to God”.

We live in an anxious time. Philippians 4:4-9 applies now…especially now. We are called to rejoice in the Lord in the midst of virus. We are called to not be anxious in the midst of job loss. We are called to think upon Christ and to put into practice the gospel which has shaped us even when so much certainty surrounds us.

Your battle in this season isn’t to not feel anxious. It’s to not be anxious. That doesn’t come through pumping the brakes on our anxiety. It comes by being pedal to the metal in prayer. It comes from meditating daily upon the goodness of God.

So my stop cards only have one side these days. How have I seen the goodness of God today? And I try to camp out there.

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Don’t Waste This wilderness

Mike Leake

photo-1448831338187-78296e6fdc4dI’ve been asked several times whether or not I believe COVID-19 is the judgment of God upon our world. I don’t believe I have the wisdom to fully answer that question. I do know that typically in Scripture when judgment falls upon a land it’s specific and not speculative. In other words, the people who have eyes to see and ears to hear know why God’s chastisement is upon them.

So I’m not willing to say that this is God’s judgment nor am I willing to say that it is not. But what I will say is that it appears to me that God is taking us to the wilderness. He is, in this season, pleading with us and fighting for our heart. The wilderness will expose us. But God is doing what He always is doing; moving us towards the new Jerusalem.

I am reminded once again of God’s words through the prophet Hosea:

For their mother has played the whore; she who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink. (Hosea 2:5)

The people in Hosea’s day were living in affluence. Through shrewd political maneuvering they were experiencing the fruits of Assyria as well as the fruits of Egypt. They were prosperous. And at the end of the day, even though they might have given lip service to YHWH, their hearts true love was found in their idols (Assyria, Egypt). It was to them that she sought provision.

When ‘Mine’ is Taken

I can’t speak for the rest of the world, but here in America we’ve certainly been prone to give our hearts to other lovers.

The procurement of our bread and water, our basic nourishments, can too easily be attributed to our jobs, our government, or our work-ethic. But what happens when those are shut down or slowed to a screeching halt? We’ve quickly come to realize the fragility of our economy.

Where will we get our wool and flax in such a season? From the moment of the fall humanity has sought covering. And we’ve done a fine job of finding fig leaves to distract us from the reality of our nakedness. We’ll take our wool and flax from any quarter so long as we don’t have to hear the penetrating voice of the Father, “What is this you have done?”

The very fact that many are fearing suicide rates due to a flailing economy tells us much. We’ve clothed ourselves in our portfolios. For some we’ve gotten warmth from our political parties, fighting and scratching to make sure our party stays in power. Even at times compromising long held Christian principles for the sake of making sure that other party doesn’t assume power. (And just to be clear, my denouncement is bi-partisan. All parties are man-made wool and flax).

And our churches have often warmed ourselves with oft-inflated numbers, expanding campuses, and increasing budgets. We’ve learned to measure discipleship by whether or not you’re attending a meeting and perhaps neglected to measure it by whether or not our shoes are contorting to follow in the foot-steps of Jesus.

But what happens when our buildings shut down, our economy withers, and our emperors are shown to be without clothes? Will we fight to make sure the lights stay on, open up economy at great risk to the vulnerable among us, and try to pretend that parties aren’t still scrambling and grasping to show power or posturing for extending platform as we’re crippled by an invisible warrior?

Yes, this shut down is also exposing how deeply our comforts and joys have come from things like sports and the entertainment industry. And it’s exposing for many that our families aren’t as strong as we thought. We find ourselves scrambling to relate and deepen relationships that weren’t the priority we thought they were. How many of us parents had given countless nights and weekends to these things and now find themselves in the foreign place of trying to give some sort of discipleship to our families?

Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, so that she cannot find her paths. She shall pursue her lovers but not overtake them, and she shall seek them but shall not find them. (Hosea 2:6-7)

Is that what God is doing in this season? Is he graciously hedging up our way with thorns. As we keep trying to pursue our other lovers and “get back to normal” will God keep pursuing us into the wilderness?

This is truly a concern that I have for us in this season. I’ve said for awhile that we have not learned the language of lament. We don’t see the tender mercies of the wilderness and so we run from it. And so we’ll try to get stuff back to “normal” as quickly as possible or to make it as close to normal as we possibly can. We’ve lost the capacity to sit in the dust and mourn and learn.

The Wilderness Voice We Need To Hear

God is doing something in Hosea. He isn’t hedging up her way because He is cruel. No, this happening because God is profoundly good. You have to notice the beauty of Hosea 2.

Hosea 2:10 at first glance sounds like one of the cruelest and most vindictive verses in the Bible.

Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall rescue her out of my hand.

He is taking away all of His gifts and all of His provision for her. And now she has absolutely nothing which with to barter with her lovers. When she cannot pay Assyria or Egypt they all of a sudden aren’t as passionate of lovers. She was being used. There wasn’t real love there. There wasn’t tenderness. No compassion. No true joy in her.

Your idols don’t love you like you love them.

And so if you can picture a woman, Israel, out in the wilderness and her whole being is covered in shame. There is nothing in her that is desirable. Nobody likes her. To even go near her would not only create revulsion for you but it’d make you part of the outcast of society as well.

And that’s us. We’ve prostituted ourselves. We’ve bowed to other lovers and they’ve all come up empty. We might not be in a spot to feel the weight of this yet. We still have a few tidy garments, a loaf or two of bread, and a stimulus check on the way. And maybe it won’t be necessary for us to be quite so broken before we get it. Maybe the pleading won’t need to be so forceful. I don’t know. But what I do know is where God is taking us and what He is doing.

In the wilderness…nothing to be desired…and hear these words, “Therefore I am now going to…”

Pause.

What do you expect there? How does God respond to a people who have given themselves over to idolatry and have ran themselves head long into the consequences of this thing?

Here it is:

“Therefore I am now going to allure her;
I will lead her into the wilderness
and speak tenderly to her. (Hosea 2:14)

Tender. Compassionate. Alluring words. This is unthinkable. Nobody else wants her and yet you hear the Greatest Lover say, “I still want you”.

This is why He has us in the wilderness. It’s not to shame us for the sake of shame. It’s to strip these lesser lovers of their luster. It’s to convince us that our Savior isn’t a political party—not even close. It’s not even in a thriving congregation. It’s not in a bustling economy. All these are fig leaves.

The only thing lasting is the love of the Father, Son, and Spirit. Here is our nourishment. Here is our clothing. Here is our joy and comfort.

So let us learn the ways of the wilderness. Let us not pursue setting up a table in the wilderness unless the Almighty prepares the banquet. We don’t need to get back to normal. Normal is broken. We need to get back to Eden…or rather the new Jerusalem. And good news, that’s where the Father is taking us.

Be encouraged. This wilderness will definitely expose our brokenness and patterns of our rebellion. But God is gracious and compassionate.

His tender and alluring words speaks decibels above our the brokenness from our rebellion.

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Much of my thoughts here were originally found in my book Torn to Heal