Caring or Careless

No doubt, recent development regarding the Covid-19 pandemic will have left you wondering how long this will go on and whether you could find yourself under further restrictions in the coming weeks.  One of the aspects that has caused me concern is the attitude of some churches, which I find not that much different to that of the teenagers that have been walking around the streets in large boisterous groups.

Someone recently told me of a train journey where all the adults sat quietly wearing face masks to comply with the regulations, while a hoard of teenagers ran up and down the carriages without masks.  The wearing of face masks is both to protect the wearer from infection and also to protect others.  It is possible to have the virus without being aware of it and therefore becoming contagious.  Clearly there are some people who just do not care.

This blase attitude reminds me of the story of the man who fell from a very tall building and who, as he passed successive floors, was heard saying, “So far, so good!”  Covid-19 is highly contagious and its outcome can be fatal.  But the attitude common among teenagers is not very different from that shown by some churches.  Desperate to get back to ‘normal’ churches have been bending the rules and pushing the boundaries as if the virus has nothing to do with us.  There is a “What can we get away with” attitude that I find sad and scary.

When the Rule of Six was introduced I had presumed that would have included places of worship, but we were exempted.  However, it is all too easy to take advantage of this leniency as if it implied that we exist outside the other restrictions. The exemption is for the act of worship, but does not include illegal social gatherings inside or outside the building, before or after the service.  It is tempting to stay and socialise, but if we are more than 6 people in an individual group or the total number in the building  exceeds six, we are pushing the boundary.

‘Now the snake was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, “You must not eat from any tree in the garden”?’  And we all know where that led!  Many years later, concern for individual welfare and the reputation of the church at Thessalonica,  led Paul to write urging them to steer clear of any kind of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22)  Now, as then, it is all too easy to flirt with what is contrary to holiness.

We are living in the midst of a pandemic, so the fact that I might be clear of infection (or at least think so) will not justify my being careless and uncaring of others.  Being careless not only puts me at risk, it puts others at risk and creates a care-free culture.  What if I infected a person, who infected another person, who infected a person who died from Covid-19?  The same is true when it comes to sin.  How we live morally puts others at risk.  If we care then let us be careful.