Random Thoughts: Fast Food Christianity – Part 1

This being the spring of 2021, and having endured more than a year of lockdowns and restrictions on our freedom, I think most folks would agree with me when I say, “We live in frustrating times.” Many of us are not only feeling frustrated, but numerous other feelings as well; feelings which can get quite raw resulting in anger that boils quickly to the surface.

For nearly a year and a half we’ve been subjected to a daily stream of a media-generated, fear-inducing narrative that has been used to reinforce governmental declarations of emergency measures. Any counter narrative, any discussion that refutes the fear-driven agenda has been almost completely squashed and censored. This censorship has been applied across the board - from the citizen in the street to the top scientists and medical experts in the various fields – none have escaped political and social censure.

Of course, even though real science is not determined by public opinion or polling, nevertheless the ploy has been to tap into the, fear driven, “tyranny of the majority.” That is to say, manipulate public opinion until there are sufficient numbers in the mob to then declare, “this is what we are doing, this is what the majority demand.” The problem with this should be obvious...a manipulated, ill-informed majority is incapable of making well-informed decisions and has little regard for individual or personal rights and freedoms.

Everyone seems to have an opinion of what “they” should be doing – opinions all based on the information the folks have been feeding upon. The old computer adage was never more true, “garbage in, garbage out.” The battlefield truly is the mind. The result we are thus seeing is that we’ve become buried under the mountain of garbage that has been produced. However, making actual good reasonable, responsible and wise decisions requires a lot of work these days. For starters, the garbage must be filtered out before it is fed (as data or information) into the computer – so to speak. Research into all the known facts AND listening as well to all alternate but informed opinions and theories (from numerous highly accredited doctors, researchers and scientists – currently being ridiculed and/or ignored) must also be included in the debate. ALL consequences must be evaluated, as they become known, and with enough flexibility built in to adjust the plans as new information becomes available. Finally, both political and media driven agendas must not be allowed to sway the decision making whilst calling it “science.” In today's world it is not enough to simply rely on main-stream media reporting to consider oneself “informed” but personal research and effort is required – especially when one side of the debate is so often suppressed.

So...what does any of this have to do with Christianity and thus the title of this essay? For starters, the same forces at play in the culture around us today are also at play within the church. Members of the church are also citizens of the state and are effected by those same influences which effect everybody else in their day-to-day lives. And like everybody else, Christians are subject to the same agendas played out through whatever media they follow and pay attention to. Biased, incomplete, inaccurate and censored information effects everyone unwilling to question, dig deeper and think critically. The same “Garbage In Garbage Out” formula effects the minds and subsequent behaviour of Christians as well as everybody else that does not know how to filter what they are taking in.

The Bible has a lot to say about what we put into our minds.... Here I’m thinking along such lines as, guarding one’s mind, admonitions and commands against fear, putting on the “Armour of God,” etc just to name a few. It should be quite obvious that what happens in the mind is extremely important and everything we believe and do flows from our mind. Actions – behaviour is initiated by our mind.

Proverbs 4:23 says “More than anything you guard, protect your mind, for life flows from it.” (CEB)

With respect to the “Armour of God,” the first piece of the armour mentioned is the belt of truth. Truth matters. Truth, by its very definition, is exclusive. It means something is true and other things are false and in some cases outright lies.

The beliefs you hold in your mind are based on what you believe to be true. The evil one – the devil - is the father of lies (John 8:44). Every lie finds its origin in him. Are your beliefs based on the truth? Every other piece of the full armour of God is dependent on the belt of truth. Without truth we are stuck – anything we might attempt is destined eventually to fail and any progress or accomplishment ultimately fails without truth. Truth makes for the most solid and best foundation on which to build. A castle built on a foundation of sand cannot stand for very long.

Fear is perhaps the most destructive state of mind we can have. In Psalm 46: 1-3, it says:

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”

As believers in Christ, we are commanded not to fear – and yet the past fourteen months have seen nothing but concerted efforts to promote fear throughout the population; those efforts have been highly successful with both unbelievers as well as believers. It might be useful therefore to ask oneself, “Who might be wanting me to be afraid at this time and what might they stand to gain if I give in to fear?”

When the “pandemic” was declared in March 2020, nobody knew exactly what to expect, but the modelling used by various health agencies made very dire predictions of massive death counts and hospital systems that would collapse and fail under the strain. Therefore it made some degree of sense to proceed with caution as various governments decided on a plan of “fourteen days to flatten the curve.” This, they claimed, was specifically to give the hospitals a chance to stay ahead of the expected influx of sick and dying people thus preventing their (the hospitals) ultimate failure. Even then however, many experts warned this would not eliminate the illness but simply lengthen the duration with approximately the same numbers of people catching the “virus.” In other words, in much the same way that the common cold is endemic to the population, this Corona virus would also become (and most likely already was) endemic. Nevertheless churches along with most businesses quickly complied and closed down. YouTube became the church pulpit and videos became the weekly message. Anything else the church might stand for and provide within the community was quenched.

Within a fairly short period of time data started becoming available that the virus was far less lethal than feared. It began to emerge that most of deaths attributed to Covid were, in fact, from other causes entirely unrelated to Covid and by the CDC’s own estimation, only about 6% of those reported deaths were caused by Covid alone. Of those who did die from Covid, approximately 80% were over 80 years of age, most were in nursing homes and many had two or more serious preexisting medical conditions already. When it was realized that the modelling on which early projections were based was very seriously flawed and that the PCR testing was highly unreliable, people began to demand the loosening of some of these restrictions on their liberty. As time has progressed, the damage done to lives, businesses, families and whole communities by these early decisions has become all the more evident and there is growing evidence to support the cessation of those early measures. In any event, people (citizens) began to become very alarmed with the tremendous over-reach of various levels of government coupled with other ‘darker’ agendas that appeared to be at work in this “declared emergency.”

Ever since the church ceded it’s constitutional and charter authority to the government’s order, it has remained unjustly and unnecessarily constrained and suppressed (and remember “we,” who meet together in the name of Christ, are the church – not some building or particular creed). At first religious gatherings were deemed “unessential” and then later churches were stifled under ridiculously unreasonable numbers who might assemble. Cannabis stores and liquor stores were deemed “essential” and permitted to operate all the while churches were closed. When church gatherings were again permitted, it was very restricted, it was far below the allowed access to Costco, Walmart and many other very large-chain stores. The “10-15 only” allowed in to church would get lost among the crowd of hundreds in the department store just across the street. It’s almost as if church attendees are viewed as far less intelligent and capable of exercising sound judgment and therefore require far greater supervision and restriction. Such government action also fails to recognize the authority to assemble and worship is a freedom bestowed by God and not by some government decree.

In a recent discussion among friends, we were discussing the plight of those few churches (and their pastors) who did not comply with public-health orders by daring to remain open and operational. Based on absolutely no sound evidence, no demonstrated threat to the community and no spread of disease, the health authorities nevertheless pressured government and law authorities into issuing millions of dollars in fines. These churches were subjected to police harassment and bullying tactics with some such tactics actually violating the Criminal Code of Canada [Section 176 (2)] . When all this did not succeed in forcing these churches closed, the government resorted to seizing properties, fencing and locking churches and arresting pastors. If anything, these measures have not only failed to stop the church from meeting, those churches actually seem to be flourishing.

The discussion of this topic, on a broader scale, reveals a split within the church itself. Many church leaders and many self-declared Christians are among those very critical of these churches who have remained open and active – and this I find very troubling. I am not surprised by mostly secular, largely atheistic governments adopting such a view but saddened and surprised to see it reflected in some of the church congregations as well. Some have said things like, “Serves them right!” or “Why don’t they just follow the law...they had it coming” and various expressions amounting to, “They’re giving Christianity a bad name.”

So how has the church responded to this current crisis? Here it really pains and saddens me to have to say that in my opinion I’d have to say that on the whole we have responded poorly. From discussions such as those just mentioned, I was led to conclude that in my opinion the church (Canadian Christian church in general) has a huge problem with being too timid and conceding ground to forces of darkness far too easily. This is an internal problem. This assessment is an opinion I’ve expressed to those Christian friends who are more than happy to condemn the actions of pastors who dare stand up to tyranny while continuing to minister to their communities and spread the gospel message. I think they (the critics) might be more than a little uncomfortable that someone is showing them up as being far too comfortable and unwilling to stand up when it is called for. It has become far too easy to sit on a comfy chair in one’s pyjamas, sipping their morning coffee while watching a religious service on YouTube and call that, “doing church.”

So, now that my assessment has possibly caused some offence, let’s take a closer look at it. Perhaps I am being far too harsh in my opinions? Under the current circumstances, is the YouTube pulpit indeed the responsible and reasonable way for us “doing church?” Does the YouTube pulpit meet the criteria for which the church was established? Well, to answer these questions there are a number of things that we need to consider. The following is taken from https://www.compellingtruth.org/purpose-church.html:

“The purpose of the church is to be the believer's spiritual family. It is through the church that God takes people with different personalities and gifts, unifies them as a single body, and equips them to care for each other and reach the world. We were not meant to live the Christian life alone; surrounded by the biblical teaching and loving community of the church, together we find our own purpose in life.”

Among the statements in the referenced article, the church was created with both internal and external functions in mind.

• Fulfill the “Great Commission.” There is no more noble purpose than to introduce others to Christ.
  

• Teach sound doctrine, prayer, the “breaking of bread” and for fellowship (Acts 2:42)
  

• Provides an opportunity to reconcile differences and right wrongs as we examine our interactions with fellow believers. (1 Corinthians 11:27-28)
  

• The natural result of sound teaching and a unified body is members of the church will help provide for and take care of each other. The church is called to pray for each other as part of that taking care and includes bringing each others needs before God. (Acts 12:5; Philippians 1:3-4)
  

• The church is called to help meet each others practical needs. (James 1:27). In fact one of the primary purposes of the church is to provide for the needs of its members. (Acts 20:34-35; Romans 15:26)

In short – and to my way of thinking, the church is to function as a community in a world that is hostile to God and His word. (See John 15:18-25). This community is absolutely vital for us all and especially for those of us who might be struggling and need the fellowship of brothers and sisters in Christ. We were never intended to stand alone against the insidious, deceptive and hostile teachings and pressures of the world but we are called to stand together to help and support each other.

Continued: Random Thoughts: Fast Food Christianity - Part 2