In general, the thoughts below reflect the conversations that we have had as elders over the past three or four months. Individual elders may have a slightly different take on an issue, but by and large, these words are intended to represent the elders of Grace Bible Church in relation to the mask mandate. 

First, it may be helpful if I state a few things that I think many of us agree on. I think it would be accurate to say that most (if not all) of our elders, including myself, would agree with sentiments that are regularly shared in one platform or another:

• “The virus has not been as widespread or deadly as was predicted.”
• “The data behind the supposed effectiveness of masks is rather questionable.”
• “Through the course of this pandemic, the government has changed its positions on masks.” 
• “The masks have become a symbol of fear.” 

Many of us also could find agreement in that by submitting to Governor Bullock’s mandate that attendees of places of worship wear masks, we (GBC) are lending some support to the Governor, his liberal agenda, and the agenda of the increasingly radicalized democratic party.

Many of us in leadership share these and other similar concerns. But, the question remains – How are we, as a church, to respond to the mask mandate?

Does the Mandate Apply to GBC?

According to the wording of the mandate, Bullock has specifically asked that businesses, government offices, and other indoor spaces make sure that employees, customers, and members wear a face covering. So, noting the given exceptions and provisions contained in the mandate, if GBC does NOT “make sure” or require face coverings, we would be disobeying the mandate. (I think most will be in agreement with this point.)

So, the question again is…. Should we, as GBC, submit to the leadership of the Montana State Governor or not? 

Although there are other passages that we could turn to, in my mind at least, 1 Peter 2:13-14 is the most helpful. 

“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.” (1 Pet 2:13–14)

According to this passage, does the Governor’s mandate fit within “every human institution”? Yes. I can’t see a faithful way to make the office of the Governor somehow not a human institution. He is an authority authorized by our state, nation, and constitution to give leadership. 

The Mandate is Not Constitutional

Some have argued that we (Christians) should only submit to the Constitution and nothing else. But the Constitution empowers other bodies of leadership. As an example, in the State of Montana, the law requires that those riding in an automobile wear a seatbelt. As a Christian, based on texts like 1 Peter 2, I believe it is right (God-pleasing) to submit to this law and to wear a seatbelt, even though it is not technically in the Constitution.  

The Mandate is Not Codified Law

Some have additionally argued that we should only submit to codified law, and not executive orders from the governor. I don’t think this argument is legitimate either. If a police officer orders me to “Get out of the car!” and I do not comply, I may face legal charges although the police officer’s order to me is not codified law. Furthermore, based on 1 Peter 2:13-14 (see above), we are called to submit to “every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him [i.e., a governor sent by the king].” The ultimate authority in our country is the Constitution. The Constitution empowers state governors. Therefore, for Christians living in the United States of America, the Apostle Peter under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit calls us to submit to state governors – in our case, Governor Bullock. In other words, we as elders cannot find any biblical justification for concluding that our Montana governor’s mask mandate does not fall within the jurisdiction of 1 Peter 2:13-14. (Please excuse the double negative!) 

Is There a Limit to Our Submission to the Government?

As elders, we would also acknowledge that there is an appropriate time to disobey the governing authorities (e.g., Acts 5:29b, “We must obey God rather than men.”). The biblical principle is this: as Christians, we submit to every human governing institution until that institution orders us to sin, and sin by first-hand commission. In other words, when the government asks us to commit sin, we refuse and disobey the governing authorities. 

It is a Sin For Me to Wear a Mask Because it is Supporting a Corrupt, Unloving Agenda

I added the clarifying phrase regarding sinning “by first-hand commission” because some have argued as follows:  It is a sin to hurt another person (a failure to love, which is a biblical command). Wearing a mask is supporting a corrupt agenda. The corrupt agenda will inevitably hurt people. Therefore, for me to wear a mask, it is a sin. 

But, even Jesus Himself submitted to governing authorities that were corrupt. He paid the temple tax in Matthew 17:24-27, despite the entire temple system having a godless corrupt agenda. Jesus Himself cleaned out the temple twice. Yet, Jesus still submitted and paid the tax lending support (financial) to the temple system. So we, as GBC elders, have argued that even if wearing a mask is supporting the corrupt liberal agenda, it still does not remove from us the biblical requirement to submit to every governing authority. As elders, we have concluded that our obedience and compliance does NOT require us or our congregation to sin. And, in fact, we believe it is the most God-honoring option. 

Our Stance

Therefore, according to the Scriptures and our commitment to surrendering to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, we feel that the God-honoring choice is to submit. We are submitting in this particular scenario. 

The Slippery Slope

Some have argued that if we submit here that we will inevitably submit to future directives that will most assuredly come. This is a form of the “slippery slope argument.” I do not believe this argument works because we have a clear termination point to our submission to the government (i.e., when the government commands us to sin). There may be future directives in which compliance would be a sin. I believe we, as elders, are all prepared to disobey governing authorities when the appropriate time comes. 

Isn’t This a Conscience Issue? 

The short answer is “no.” A conscience issue is a debatable ethical difference of opinion or choice that lacks clear biblical support for either side of the issue.  For example, whether to enroll your child in a public school, private school, or educate at home, is a conscience issue. However, the Christian’s responsibility to pay taxes is not a conscience issue. Jesus clearly stated His response to a question about Caesar’s poll tax, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” (Mark 12:17). One may attempt to skirt paying taxes by stating that to pay taxes would be to sin against their conscience. But, Christ would reject this logic – as He would if Christians attempted to use the conscience-issue argument with every clear command in Scripture. If a person believes that a particular issue is a conscience issue but, in reality in light of the biblical evidence, it is not a conscience issue, then that person’s conscience must be informed by Scripture. I believe that there may be some in our congregation that are convinced that it is a sin for them to wear a mask, but this is because their conscience has not been informed by the relevant biblical passages. Upon understanding and believing the relevant passages, they would become aware that it is not a sin. And, thus, they could wear a mask with a biblically-informed faith-filled conscience. 

To recap the above last two paragraphs, not every issue is a conscience issue. If we make every issue a conscience issue, we will undermine every command in Scripture to the point that we could not expect holistic obedience to any one of them.

What About John MacArthur? 

On this point, I would like to begin by saying, “I love John MacArthur.” I love his ministry, his example, his theology, his books, etc., etc. But despite all this, and despite the fact that I hope to receive a degree from his seminary in the near future, John MacArthur is just a man. He is not the Protestant pope. Just because he has made a decision in relation to their state-issued directives, we are not required to make the same decision. We are called to submit to the Lord Jesus Christ’s directive which is clearly given in the Word of God. 

The government of California ordered all churches in California to not gather in groups of 100 or more. With a church of over 5,000 in attendance, this directive made church gatherings impossible for GCC. Scripture calls Christians to gather as a church and “not forsake our assembling together” (Heb 10:24-25). Therefore, it is a sin not to gather and obedience to the government would require disobedience to God. This is the right time to disobey! We applaud MacArthur and GCC at this point! 

The government of California ordered there to be no singing in California churches. Scripture calls churches to sing (Col 3:16; Eph 5:18-19). Therefore, to not sing would be a sin. Again, obedience to the government would require disobedience to God. This is the right time to disobey! We also applaud MacArthur and GCC at this point! 

The government of California has ordered that those who do attend church wear masks and to practice social distancing. There is no biblical prohibition against wearing masks or standing 6 feet apart. There is a biblical warrant to submit to governing authorities (as discussed above). Therefore, as I play armchair quarterback from Montana, I wish that MacArthur and the GCC elders were requiring masks and practicing social distancing. I don’t believe there is biblical justification for disobedience at this point. But, I love John MacArthur and I’ll continue to trust the Spirit’s leading in his own heart to do what is best for his own church along with the other elders. This leads me to my final point in this overly long blog post…

Submitting to Your Elders

Imagine for a moment that there is biblical justification for refusing to submit to Governor Bullock’s mask mandate. Even if I, and Pastor Bryan, and all the other GBC elders were somehow wrong about our position on masks, you would still have a reason to put on a face-covering before entering the church building on Sunday mornings.

“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.” (Hebrews 13:17)

This is one of those verses that as an elder you don’t want to bring out, except about once in a decade. In a similar vein, wives are called to submit their husbands (Eph 5:22). But in my less than a decade of marriage experience, I’ve found that it doesn’t work very well to say, “Honey, you need to submit!” Things don’t usually go well with that approach. I feel similar in quoting Hebrews 13:17. 

The truth is, church, we, as your elders, love you and are doing our best to faithfully lead our church. We want to honor the Lord Jesus Christ by faithfully adhering to His Word. We want to serve in such a way that leads to you and your family’s spiritual flourishing. So even if you disagree with all of the above, please trust our hearts and joyfully come along with us. 

None of us like the masks. We look forward to a change. But, I would say that the masks have not disrupted my family’s fellowship on Sunday mornings. This past Sunday I had about 25 people in my Sunday School class. Everyone wore masks and the time carried on almost as normal. In the worship gathering, we sing with masks on. Some people slip their nose out to get more oxygen, or roll their masks up from the bottom – perfectly acceptable practices. Several in the body are wearing face shields or similar, but slightly strange, face-covering devices! (Feel free to be creative!)

The masks may be an unnecessary limitation placed on us by our governing authorities, but we can continue to worship and fellowship as a church. And for this we are thankful. As 1 Timothy 3:15 states, the church is the “pillar and support of the truth!” By God’s grace, this is what we have been as a church for many decades. And, by God’s grace, this is what we continue to plan to be!

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Over the past week, I have been racking my brain in search of ways that we as a church can capture this unique time for the sake of gospel influence. I believe that God has positioned us for a time like this to advance the Kingdom of Christ. As a church you know the gospel and the Word of God well – now, like always, is the time to deploy the Word, pray, and watch the Holy Spirit work. 

And yet, some of our normal means of evangelizing have been taking away from us. So we need to adapt and come up with new strategies – thus, my mental racking. For a few days, some of us on staff were working on a paper tract that we could give to our neighbors as an attempt to reach out to meet practical needs as well as pointing them to Christ. However, more and more in this strange season it seems like knocking on a door or giving out a potentially contaminated piece of paper would be despised in the eyes of a social-distancing world. We desire to “keep our behavior excellent among” our neighbors and coworkers. So we tossed that idea.

We don’t want our efforts in sharing the love of Christ to unnecessarily be seen as a blatant disregard for conventional wisdom or as an unloving act of foolishness. May we be slandered for our gospel, and not our indiscretion! 

So, what can we do? Here are a few evangelistic ideas I would encourage you to consider: 

• Reach Out to Unbelieving Friends and Neighbors. We have been encouraging you to be in contact with other members of our church, but this is also a strategic time to check in on neighbors. Of course, this assumes that you already have some means of communicating with them. Give them a call, send them a text message, or utilize some other form of digital communication. Ask them if they have any needs or even things that you could pray for. Offer to share what you have (like, your stash of stock-piled toilet paper. Just kidding!) We of all people should be generous in seasons like this. We have a heavenly Father who is providing for all our needs (Matthew 6:33). As well, pray for opportunities to speak the truth to them.
• Contact your HOA. One of the members of our church, who has requested to remain anonymous, had this wonderful idea. I asked her to explain what she did:
  • “After considering James 2:14-16, I wanted to help the people God has placed around me. I sent an email to my HOA offering to start a group where we can share needs/extras. They liked the idea and agreed to send out the info. About one-third of the subdivision responded. One neighbor who is “high-risk” shared her concerns about her husband’s health with me privately. It was an opportunity to let her know that I’m a believer. I offered to pray for them and for his protection. As a group, we started up a private page on Facebook where we can communicate needs and check in on each other. I’m hoping for opportunities to speak to my neighbors about their spiritual need for Christ as we care for them physically.”
    What a wonderful idea! I was encouraged by her example and have since sent an email to my HOA manager. I would encourage you to do the same.
• Share Your Story. In the midst of today’s restriction, if you have a successful opportunity to communicate the gospel with a lost person, please let me know. Send me an email (joes@gbcmt.org) explaining what happened and how you were able to faithfully share the gospel. I would love to compile some of these stories to share them with our Body for the purpose of encouraging others to share Christ. I believe that it is generally true that when we hear stories of how other normal people are faithfully, not perfectly, sharing Christ it encourages us to do the same. So for the sake of the lost, share your story! (I’ll be happy to leave your name out of it.) 
• Keep Dreaming! Finally, as a church let’s dream up new ways to get the gospel to our community. I’ve been encouraged by stories of many companies who are meeting this Coronavirus challenge head-on by producing new products such as gowns and facemasks. As a church, I wonder how we can do the same for the sake of the gospel. No, we won’t be mass-producing medical products anytime soon. But, are there creative ways that we could leverage the resources that we have as a church for the sake of spreading the gospel? Are there opportunities to love and serve our neighbors who are most impacted by this crisis, like the medical community, with the ultimate goal of gospel proclamation. Send me your ideas – let’s prayerfully dream and innovate for the sake of Christ! 

Although many things have changed, much remains the same. Evangelism still requires a knowledge of the gospel message, the conviction to obey Christ (Matt 28:19-20), and faith-filled boldness. May we pray for opportunities to share Christ and boldness for when the Lord grants the opportunity. Remember these words from our GO Conference speaker Mack Stiles: “Awkwardness is better than silence,” and “A little effort is better than no effort.”

1 Peter 2:9 — “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

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