Coronavirus: "Not Giving Up (Physically?) Meeting Together

On the topic of continuing to gather physically as local churches during a government mandated quarantine in light of the recent arrests of pastors that held church services in person instead of digitally.

I choose to talk shortly about the letter to the Hebrews because it is the only imperative (explicit command) in Scripture to gather together. There are other instances that describe people gathering but it is not a command to do so as much as a description. My question for those passages would be to ask if the effects of those gatherings could be accomplished through digital gatherings as well. I believe that they very well could.

"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." (Hebrews 10:24-25 NIV)

The author of Hebrews is encouraging Hebrew believers in Christ to not go back to the sacrificial system that they are being pressured to return to by the Jewish leaders through persecution. He has given his argument of why, mainly that the sacrificial system has been rendered obsolete. To forsake Christ's death and resurrection would be to abandon God and His sufficient sacrifice, and to do so would not be good for them (given ominous call backs to how Moses and his people did not enter into Israel after being disobedient). They will suffer, that is normal. Suffering is a guarantee for all who seek to follow Christ. But to turn back would be worse. In fact, they have not suffered to the point of shedding blood like many, including Christ, have before them. So he encourages them by telling them to draw near to God with this confident faith we now have instead of turning back from Him to the system of sacrifices and trust that we can have full assurance in these promises. "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who has promised is faithful." And then the author encourages us to encourage EACH OTHER. The first command was vertical, to draw near to God. The second is horizontal, to help others do the same. Mainly, to push each other towards love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together but instead encourage one another especially as you see the day of the Lord come closer where suffering will be no more and persecution will end. The important thing to note from this verse is that they are being encouraged to stand strong in the midst of suffering and the purpose behind why they are to continue gathering is because some have stopped gathering together to encourage each other to push on and persevere in the midst of suffering. So the question is, why did the author command them to continue to gather? And would forsaking physically gathering together be sinful and unbiblical?

1) The point the author is making with the verse is that through gathering you will be able to encourage each other towards perseverance in the midst of harsh suffering. The opposite of gathering is "neglecting to gather" as some in that community have apparently done. And the opposite of neglecting to gather is "encouraging one another". So the desired effect of gathering together is not arbitrary, nor is it simply because God told you to. It is to encourage each other through suffering and exhorting one another to hold tight to the faith. Can we do this through physical distancing measures? Absolutely! I have witnessed it happen during my small groups with my church, my life Bible study on Sunday morning, church service on Sunday morning, small groups with Cru, and staff meetings with my fellow Cru staff. We can absolutely gather digitally and it have a a profound effect of encouragement to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Would the author of Hebrews rather them meet and risk each other's lives if they could continue to gather digitally and encourage each other that way? I doubt it. If he did not give his reasoning behind the command perhaps I could see that, but his purpose of encouraging each other to press on in suffering is fulfilled all the same through zoom and Google hangouts.

2) There is a command to be good witnesses to a watching world through our decision making. "For the Lord has commanded us, "I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the Earth!" (Acts 13:47) Hebrews 13:2 says, "Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it." Our hearts should be that through our suffering the Gospel would advance so that souls might be saved. Is physically gathering at church in this season doing a good job of being a witness to a watching world? Or is it pushing them further and further from the church? Are we actually behaving like Christians and sacrificing ourselves for our neighbor, or are we fighting for our own rights instead? That leads me to my next point.

3) Are we resisting because of faithfulness or entitlement? I fought with this idea for a while when Church stopped meeting in person. But I did quickly realize the power of what was happening, the effect of Christian fellowship that is the intention of the command to not neglect meeting, and more importantly how God commands us to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of others. I came to realize my desire to meet in person was dangerous and self-centered. It wasn't because I truly felt that the Bible commanded me to meet regardless of safety, but because I felt like my rights were being infringed upon. And in a sense that may be right. I am not a lawyer. I am especially not a constitutional lawyer. From my point of view I feel like legally preventing churches from gathering seems to be unconstitutional. That's not what I'm debating. What I'm challenging us to is how we handle these quarantine measures and why we should follow them WILLINGLY. And when I say willingly I don't mean by resisting until the government gives us the chance to choose to willingly, I mean choosing to obey our authorities willingly now.

4) The Bible doesn't seem to be a fan of outrage culture. If our rights were truly being stepped on by the government, the Biblical pattern seems to persevere through suffering. " You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence, it will be richly rewarded." (Hebrews 10:34-35) Our faith cannot be grounded in our rights granted to us by the Law. Look how quickly they can be taken away. Rights and liberties were never the norm for Christians in the New Testament. I am not saying we shouldn't advocate for them, but we need to prioritize. What is your motivation? Love, encouragement, faithfulness and self sacrifice in the midst of suffering? Or self-centeredness, entitlement, insecurity and fear?

5) In our desire to physically gather, could we be missing out on ways God is moving through physical distancing? Note that I continue to use the phrase "physical distancing" instead of social distancing. We are staying separate physically to prevent spreading a disease that could be deadly to our neighbors. But we are not disengaging in God's work in the world. God makes Himself known through crisis and like I showed before, much of how he does this is through the Christian suffering. We join in with the rest of the world in the inconveniences of physical distancing. We trudge through the uncertainty of the disease and the sorrow that death and misery brings to our communities. We lament the loss of money and jobs and the coming economic crisis. We do all this with the world and yet we are set apart from the world because we have a hope to cling to that one day this will not be so. We strive forward knowing we have a future glory that is waiting to be revealed. We know that there will be a time where pestilence and death will be no more and that hope will astonish the watching world. And see that people will be more curious about this hope than ever before! The number of people that livestreamed my church's digital service was more than the amount that could fit into the church on any given weekend for the number of services we have. People are watching and are curious about how the Church is responding to this.

Perhaps God's desire is not for us to continue to gather physically, putting our health and the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ at risk to protect our own rights. Perhaps God's desire is that we would gather digitally, encouraging one another to suffer well because the eternal glory we have promised outweighs it all. Perhaps His plan will actually have us, when the time comes, sacrifice our own health for the sake of others instead, when the world has disappeared into their homes in fear and no one comes to care for the sick and dying. Who knows but God? But we do have an action plan for now. The world is watching us Christians. God is watching us. These are but light and momentary struggles. Are we prepared for such a time as this?