To be fair, we have to know why
In my first years as the Bible course teacher in a public high school, I enjoyed an amiable relationship with the school principal. Then, without explanation, things changed. This previously jovial fellow began to return my greetings with growl or a scowl.
“What have I done to displease him?” I wondered. Then, when I heard that he was hospitalized, I made a pastoral visit to his bedside. That’s when I learned that he had just had surgery to remove a bad batch of hemorrhoids. Now I knew the real reason for his recent frowns.
That experience taught me to not to jump to conclusions before I have enough facts to know what’s really going on. I had let my own preconceptions and insecurities dupe me into making a diagnosis that turned out to be totally wrong.
I’m afraid that some of my colleagues made that same mistake in their hot-button, gut-level responses to the COVID-19 restrictions recommended for churches.
I have no way to know what percentage of pastors and church officials perceived the virus safety rules as attacks on organized religion, but I heard that outcry not only locally but all across the land. In some instances, they may have been right. Some government officials do endorse the Freedom From Religion agenda and welcome any chance to shutter churches.
One of the best-known, most capable religious writers in this generation wrote a strong rebuttal to what he called “systematic secularism.” In it he documented our shift from a time when Sunday really was the Lord’s day and not a day to go shopping or participate in sports.
Against that valid scenario, this writer depicted virus regulations as “the suppression of church services by the state,” and he warned that this “should be a wakeup call” to all who value their faith.
This exceptional journalist may have been right. The area he lives in has been eliminating churches for a long time. But he obviously doesn’t know the virus-rulemakers in my town—people with strong faith and positive church ties—whose only reason to make such rules was to protect people of faith, not to restrict our expressions of devotion to God.
The Bible tells us that “God does not judge by external appearance” (Gal. 2:6). But far too often we do. Jesus counsels us, “Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.” Good advice.
Gene Shelburne may be addressed at 2310 Anna St., Amarillo, TX 791064717 or at GeneShel@aol.com. Get his books or magazines at www.annastreetchurch.org. His column appears weekly.