Why Aren’t Worshipers Getting Sick Like Everyone Else?

A scolding article in the  New York Times this week started with the byline,

“Churches were eager to reopen. Now they are confronting coronavirus cases.”

Tim Challies gives a pretty good summary and rebuttal of the article.

As I read, I was in shock. How can the writers not see the silliness of what they are writing? The United States has at least 400,000 churches and yet only 600 cases of coronavirus have been linked to religious facilities of any kind—not deaths, cases. They even mentioned Arizona as a hotbed of the virus. The Arizona Department of Health Services (see stats here) has traced only one—ONE!–outbreak of coronavirus to a religious setting and that happened at a rally (more here) on the Navajo reservation on March 7—long before the shutdowns occurred.

This is what we should be asking. Why are there no more outbreaks of coronavirus associated with worship services? [Editorial note:  Since writing this there has been some confusion.  We are talking about worship services here, not Christians, or pastors, or priests, etc who contract the disease in other settings].

At this point, we can only speculate about the answer. Churches have been careful about social distancing and worship practices. There will always be a few exceptions, and those will make the news and be portrayed as characteristic of all. Churches have stepped up and figured out ways of letting sick people participate in worship from home. There has been great care and love shown for the more vulnerable church members. Churchgoers are not the often drunk careless people that populate the bars and parties where transmission often occurs.

None of this seems to be enough though to explain the fact that only 600 cases of coronavirus have been traced back to the hundreds of thousands of worship services, and millions of worshipers who have been gathering in the past two months.

It is almost—well—miraculous.

It certainly seems like Divine protection. It’s like God is closing the mouths of the lions.

We are not fools. We know the circumstances can change and change quickly. We know there is a deadly virus out there, and we know it can touch us and even be transmitted at worship services. That is why, all over the country, Christians have been praying for protection and taking steps to protect themselves at worship. We know what we are doing has risks, but we also know that corporate worship is a command of God and essential for our spiritual health. The risk is worth it.

There are two incidents in the book of Daniel that inform our decision-making at this moment.

We cannot bow to the gods of this world.

When the three Hebrew children of Daniel 3 refused to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s image it was a “die on this hill” moment.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up. (Daniel 3:16-18)

There are moments of obedience with the potential for very severe consequences. We obey as long as we possibly can (see my article about Choosing our Battles Biblically), but there comes a point where obedience to human leadership becomes disobedience to God. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego expressed confidence in God’s ability to preserve them from the flames of the fiery furnace but understood that God might not do so. They were determined to obey anyway. This ethic has been at the heart of true Christianity since its inception. Throughout human history, being a Christian is dangerous. We accept that danger and obey willingly accepting the consequences if God so chooses.  And still, we should take whatever precautions we can including distancing and masks when deemed appropriate.

We cannot stop worshiping our God.

In Daniel 6 the decree went out that forbade Daniel from worshiping His God. From the king’s perspective it did not specifically target Daniel, but Daniel’s enemies in the Persian court focused upon Daniel (Daniel 6:5).

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days. (Daniel 6:10)

In spite of the fact that he knew it could, and likely would cost him his life, Daniel went home, opened the windows (people could see), and publicly worshiped his God. We not only have an obligation to worship, we have an obligation to publicly worship our God. We must not hide.

Of course, Daniel was cast into the den of lions and God closed the mouths of the hungry lions until Daniel was rescued in the morning. His accusers, now known for their treachery by the king, were cast into the den and the lions made short work of them. Our God is a real and great God and He will fight our battles for us.

May God continue to close the mouths of the lions and frustrate the plans of the wicked.