As of today, the state of Indiana is experiencing daily COVID cases at a statistically equivalent rate to the days when our church was not open for in-person services and masks were mandated in our county.
No one wants to go backwards, and especially not me, but as a Shepherd, it is my call and role to shepherd well, so I am seeking to best care for each of you.
To this end, effective this Sunday, Aug. 29, the following will be implemented:
1) First or foremost, if you have symptoms or have been exposed to anyone who has tested positive for COVID, we request that you stay home and join us online.
2) We are going to step towards a strong recommendation for mask wearing while we are in the building.
3) Once again, we will be increasing our seating and asking you to sit socially distanced from others.
4) We will be suspending The Gathering out of an abundance of caution. We will bring this back as soon as COVID cases drop sufficiently for this to be safe.
5) We are canceling the Friendship Festival that was scheduled for this Sunday, Aug. 29. This event is intended to reach out to our community, but we can and will do it better in a time when we won’t need restrictions.
To those who feel our level of faith is diminishing, that your rights are being taken, or that we are operating out of fear, allow me to share this perspective with you. When I get into my car to drive, I put my seatbelt on and drive the speed limit. I put the seatbelt on for me. I drive the speed limit for you and for me. These actions are also what the law dictates in driving a motorized vehicle on public streets. If I don’t wear a seatbelt, it impacts me if I get in an accident. If I drive over the speed limit, this could potentially impact you, cause an accident, hurt me, and hurt others. I don’t intend to have an accident, but I can do my part to mitigate the damage if that were to happen.
When I get in my car and follow the law by putting on my seatbelt on and driving the speed limit, at no point is my faith diminishing. My rights are not being taken away as I respect the rights that others have as well. Instead, I am making a choice not to harm myself or others. Nor am I operating out of fear, but rather, out of respect for what is the right thing to do for me and for others.
Simply put, there are ways we can respond to masks, vaccines, and COVID that make our decisions a reflection of our relationship with Jesus Christ. In John 15:17, Jesus commands us to “love one another.” We can respond to this growing crisis in ways that respect others or not. We can recognize how our actions and responses affect both us and others. We can model a Christlikeness or not through how we respond. My hope and expectation would be that we respond in a kind and “thinking of others way” that allows us to move toward a solution, solving the problem instead of being the problem and causing more harm than good.
This is consistent with what I firmly believe Jesus teaches us about loving others. It is what I believe is a Christian response to the crisis we find ourselves in once again as a community.
