While many ministers and pastors are taking the government’s guidelines on meeting size and social distancing as our society tries to deal with the COVID-19, there are other ministers blatantly ignoring and defying those health guidelines.  These ministers declare that it is their right and obligation to hold services regardless of any potential danger to the members of their flock.  While this is their right, it is also not scriptural.  You see, many of these same ministers loudly praised the election of our current President, I heard many of them say that he was sent from God and that he was guided by scripture.  If that was the case when he was elected, why then is it not the case now that he is in office.  Why are these ministers ignoring the words in Romans chapter 13 verses 1-2 and rejecting the health guideline? 

In verses 1-2 we read the instructions,  “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.  Therefore^] whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.”  By choosing to ignore the authority of our “elected” officials, by claiming to be above the law, they are setting a dangerous precedent.  They are laying the groundwork for their own followers to cheerily ignore them and the teachings in the Bible; after all, if the minister does not have to obey what motivation does the average person have to obey.

Many of these ministers have expressed a fear of the authorities, that somehow by implementing these health guidelines the government is laying the groundwork for the future repression of our faith.  These ministers are comfortable in their Mega-churches with their television contracts, their expensive cars, their worldly power, and they do not intend to return to the days when the Word was spread in small groups, in homes, and under constant persecution.  They seem more interested in being famous then in saving souls, after all one sure way to achieve a spot on the news channels is to stake your claim on being somehow persecuted.  This seems hypocritical, especially when those they claim are persecuting them are the same people they cheered getting elected, they seem to want the authority to decide how much allegiance they owe to the government.

They would do well to remember the words of Jesus in Mark 12:17, “And Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were amazed at Him.”