Now, concerning the wearing of a mask and other issues during this pandemic, I remind you that knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Sometimes we think we know all we need to know to answer these questions, but sometimes a humble heart knows more than our proud minds. Until we admit that we never really know enough we will never truly believe God knows it all.
Some of you say this Covid-19 pandemic is a hoax, a conspiracy cooked up by the government, or the Deep State, or some other entity designed to control our lives and take away our freedom. Others say that those who hate Christianity are using it to destroy our constitutional right to assemble for public worship. Still others say that Jesus has conquered death and relieved us of our fear of death, and, therefore, we will be just fine whether we live or die from Covid-19 or some other cause.
So you could make the case that wearing a mask, keeping a safe social distance, and limiting contact outside your home should be optional for a Christian. However, like I said before, knowing isn’t the beginning and end of faith. Those for whom knowing becomes everything wind up as know-it-alls who treat others as know-nothings. Real knowledge isn’t that inconsiderate.
Everyone is at different levels of understanding in this. While some of you refuse to let this pandemic inconvenience you in any way, others of you have been careful to wear masks, stay six-feet away from others, and order everything you need from Amazon.com rather than come into physical contact with strangers. God doesn’t condone or condemn practicing these precautions. But God does care when you use your freedom carelessly in a way that endangers someone else either physically, emotionally, or spiritually.
The central truth is this: Everyone you meet is another person for whom Christ died, just like he died for you. As believers in Christ we are called to follow a law higher than any ruling from a political body or group of medical experts. We are called to follow the law of love as demonstrated for us by Christ. For example, let’s say you throw a party for your neighbors, and more than ten people show up, none of them wearing masks, and everybody crowding around the snack table. Perhaps the danger of infection really is minimal, but what if one of your guests is confused by what appears to be a lack of concern by fellow Christians? Is that helpful to his or her discipleship? Worse yet, what if one of your guests gets sick, or, God forbid, dies from being exposed to the virus? In this instance, it doesn’t matter if your dismissiveness of scientific evidence is justified. What matters is that you have created a crisis of conscience, or allowed an infection, within a person who is loved by God just as much as you are.
Are you so all-knowing that you will put another person in harm’s way? Is that what “freedom in Christ” means? Whether my knowledge is right or wrong, if it means keeping another human being safe, I will never take off my mask.
My thanks to Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 8 in The Message for some of the phraseology here.