Now Is Not the Time for Churches to Lower Their Guard

While some states like Texas and Mississippi are dropping their mask mandates and other restrictions, health experts are warning that they are acting prematurely. These decisions are not science-based but politically motivated and may come back and bite those making them on the buttocks. They are likely to cause the further spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus at a stage when several potentially more dangerous mutations of the virus have been detected in the United States and the country is nowhere near achieving herd-immunity despite ongoing vaccination efforts. A recent CDC study found that state-imposed mask mandates and on-the-premises dining restrictions at restaurants do contribute to the slowing of the virus’ spread.

Whenever Americans lower their guard, there have been fresh surges of virus infections. This has also been the case in the United Kingdom, the countries of the European Union, and elsewhere in the world. The virus keeps mutating, and several newer mutations are more infectious than the previous ones. While cases haven been going down in some regions of the United States, it does not mean that we are out of the woods. We may be experiencing only a temporary reprieve and it is not the time to throw caution to the wind.

Churches can be a positive model for their communities or a negative one. They can model concern for the health and safety of the community. Or they can model indifference. They can act wisely or recklessly.

Jesus told those who gathered to hear him that God desires mercy, not sacrifice. He desires that we show him true worship by showing compassion, kindness, forgiveness, and generosity to others. Worshiping God is not praising him with our lips but glorifying him with our lives, living our lives the way that Jesus taught us to live them and loving others as we love ourselves.

While we may chaff at the restrictions that the various public health measures place on our lives, they protect our communities. They protect us from ourselves. Now is not the time to lower our guard. It is not the time to stop wearing face masks. It is not the time to stop social distancing. It is not the time to stop limiting the number of people who may attend a service at one time.

God works through the mundane and the ordinary as well as through the miraculous and the extraordinary. God does things the way that he thinks best. He does not do things the way we think that he ought to do them. God, after all, is God.

Also See:
'We're walking into the mouth of the monster' by loosening Covid-19 restrictions, expert says
As States Ease Restrictions, Study Says On-Premises Dining Linked To COVID-19
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CDC study finds mask mandates, dining out influence virus spread