Responsibility of Freedom

These last 9 months or so has been a very difficult season for all of us, including but not limited to teachers, administrators, leaders, parents, kids, business owners, and yes, pastors. We have been inundated with polarizing views from the left and the right, from rule followers and freedom fighters, and even from two different sides of the church as a whole.

Let me say this, to begin with, I fully believe Church is Essential, not only to my life but to all of our lives, believers or not. I pray that we will once again return to a fully functioning church with our doors wide open, but understand that I, along with many many other pastors, have done our very best to continue to serve our congregations and our communities within our limited functionality. And I for one can see some major growth steps in how we do “church.”

I agree that we should not neglect our meeting together and that there is something special about corporate worship through music and word, but to think that is all that we need to do to be the Church is like getting chicken nuggets at a fine dining restaurant. Sure chicken nuggets are good, but there is so much more that the Church can and should offer.

As we begin to see the Supreme Court side with churches against unfair limitations, let us remember that we do not need the court to give us freedom, our freedom comes through Christ. That freedom however comes with responsibility. In the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 8, we see that we must be careful about our freedom causing others to stumble.

I can’t wait to fully open our church again and to be able to do so in a safe way, but until then I will continue to do the things necessary to remove stumbling blocks between others and God. I pray that if you are a Christian you will join me in this endeavor. I often say the easiest way to show the love of Christ to others is by simply wearing a face mask.