The Covid-19 pandemic started in late 2019. At the beginning, the information was limited and not clear. At that time, the WHO and infectious disease specialists
had different and sometimes contradictory opinions. Some were very strict on how to deal with this disease, while others felt that this was not more than a regular flu. Now, after more than 2 years, more than 6 million people died, including 1 million in the United States alone.
Regardless of how accurate these statistics are, we know that the disease affected almost every family on the globe.
Many church leaders and their congregations abide by the dictates of their government leaders. However, in this article, I would like to shed light on how some church leaders dealt with this pandemic:
1. Denying the existence of the disease as a whole. In this aspect I am not discussing the origin of the disease, whether natural or not, but simply arguing whether the disease was real or not.
2. God will not permit this disease to affect my church; if it happens, Jesus will heal us. In other words, there is no need to take any precautions or medications. Because the disease would not affect believers. I certainly believe in miracles but also I know that most of the time God will not break the natural laws of the universe.
3. Asking the congregations to disobey the recommendations by the state or health officials. One preacher said:" If you wear a mask, I don't want you in my church". Others allowed choirs to continue practicing and singing on Sundays when the rates of infections and death were alarming. Some churches disobeyed the government and did not close their churches early in the pandemic. It was not surprising that these places had higher rates of infection and perhaps death than average.
4. Some people refused vaccination for different reasons. Here, I am not discussing the value of these vaccines, particularly which they are new and were given under emergency use authorization (EUA) such that the side effects, to some extent, are not known. Rather, I look at the actions of the church leaders who encouraged their congregations not to be vaccinated based merely on biblical belief or teaching. The end result of these practices, according to my observation, was a higher rate of infection, serious symptoms or even more deaths than other communities. This way of thinking touches a broader subject of how Christians deal with illness in general. Although I believe, without a doubt, that God can heal us instantly and completely from any kind of illness, mild or serious, many times He chooses not to do this on a daily basis. From my observation as a physician, a person with hypertension takes a pill or more every day and a diabetic individual makes sure to use insulin or other medication regularly to control blood sugar. However, when it comes to serious diseases such as cancer, there is a tendency not to take medication and rather "trust" God. The same happened with Coronavirus. Some refused to take any measures to avoid infection or spreading of the disease and asked God to protect them. This reminds me with what Satan said to Jesus: "“If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” However, Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
5. Some church leaders went even further in resisting the recommendations by encouraging their congregations to civil disobedience, in response to restrictions on social events. Others asked people to "forge" vaccine passports, applying the principle that they always preach against: "The ends justify means"!
In these few thoughts, I would like to stress the fact that we Christians are required to obey the laws, unless they are against the Bible. In the meantime, we are expected to seek the welfare of others and do our best to decrease their suffering.
