Does Romans 13 really justify churches' compliance with COVID measures?
Spoiler alert: I don't think so.
Recently my Bible reading for the day was Romans 13. For anyone who’s not familiar, it begins like this:
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. (Romans 13:1-5)
During government-enforced covid restrictions, many churches justified their compliance using this passage. But is that really a legitimate application?
I have to admit that it makes me pause and think. As a Christian, my goal is to do what’s right and obey God. If non-compliance with covid measures and defiance of authority in this area is disobedience to God’s word, it would be unjustified and I would need to repent.
However, I don’t think that’s the case, and here’s why.
Paul is describing the ideal, God-designed function of the state
I believe that Paul here is describing how the state is supposed to function according to God’s design. What is the proper role of the state? Its laws and its punishments for breaking those laws should reflect God’s laws. The state should leave people free to do what is good, according to how God defines good; and it should punish evil, according to how God defines evil. In this way a nation will flourish.
That’s made clear by these phrases: “For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.” “Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval….But if you do wrong, be afraid….For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.”
The state is supposed to be an instrument of God on earth to carry out his will. When it punishes wrong, it is actually executing God’s judgement.
However, it’s easy to see that this is not always the case. Many times governments punish those who do good and reward or let off wrongdoers.
During the covid regime, we’ve seen that in spades. Here in Canada, many pastors have been arrested for the “crime” of conducting church services. Artur Pawlowski was also arrested for feeding the homeless. Meanwhile, evil has flourished in the form of politicians and businesses disobeying their own mandates, persecuting those who dissent, encouraging discrimination and segregation, stripping people of their ability to work, get an education, or travel; and on and on.
There are many more egregious examples from history of governments who reward evil and punish good. These states are not fulfilling their God-ordained function, and those who try to live faithfully to God suffer under them.
We should normally obey government
Christians should be known as the most law-abiding citizens there are, under normal circumstances:
If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. (1 Peter 4:14-15)
Government's authority comes from God
It’s clear from this passage that a government’s authority to rule and to punish wrong comes from God. It is not above God. The authorities themselves will answer to God. Their authority is legitimate only to the extent that it submits to his.
Therefore, if we obey the government when it tells us to do wrong, or forbids us to do good, we are disobeying God. We will not be excused by “the government told me to.” We are directly responsible to God himself.
Scripture gives us examples of disobeying governing authorities
Even churches who justified their covid compliance using Romans 13 would say there are cases when we should disobey government, if it orders us to do something that is against God’s will. The apostles, when persecuted by the Jewish authorities for preaching about Jesus, told them: “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).
Compliant churches don’t have much of a leg to stand on here, because Scripture tells us “not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another” (Hebrews 10:25). However, they will admit there are times when disobedience is warranted, they just don’t think this is one.
The apostle Paul, who wrote Romans, was frequently whipped, stoned, chased out of town, and imprisoned, by both the Jewish and Roman governing authorities, for the “crime” of preaching about Jesus, and was eventually executed by the Roman state. So clearly he didn’t think that obedience to governing authorities was without limit.
Were covid restrictions contrary to God’s will?
That’s an easy yes from me.
Look at what was prohibited: churches could not gather together in person. When they were allowed, numbers were severely restricted so the entire congregation could not be together at any one time. Masks and “social” distancing were required, and people could not eat together.
I’ve already cited Hebrews 10:25, which urges us not to neglect gathering together. But the entirety of the New Testament is about how God is building his church, and how we are supposed to live together. One of its common metaphors for the church is that of a body with many parts, each with its own function and each of which is necessary to the whole. Listening to a service online simply does not allow for the mutual interaction, encouragement, edification, and service that Scripture commands.
In a broader context from the church, covid restrictions have been extremely destructive to society. Businesses closed, children denied education, people fired from their jobs for exercising medical choice, families separated, human rights violated, and on and on. Pretty much everyone has suffered from it in some way.
When the church fails to speak up, stand against evil, and provide a refuge for people who are suffering, it is failing to serve its function and is cooperating with evil. I’ve written about this before, but I don’t think it can be said enough. If the church of Jesus Christ cannot be a prophetic voice to government and society, what good is it? As Jesus said, the salt has lost its saltiness.
The big lie
Not only that, by cooperating with covid measures, the church cooperated with and furthered a grand lie. There’s no need to recount the ways here in which the covid scam is built on falsehoods. The church should be foremost in seeking and speaking truth. Especially those who claim to be ministers of the gospel should be seekers and lovers of truth. If we can’t figure out the truth in this context, why should anyone believe us when we tell them we have spiritual truth?
Court proceedings in Canada have recently revealed that vaccine travel mandates had no basis in science. The same is true for all the other measures that were taken. How embarrassing for the church to be caught acting as defender of a lawless, rogue and oppressive state.
Fear of covid is real, whipped up by government and media propaganda. Pastors had a chance to ease people’s fears not only by pointing them to a sovereign and loving God, but by telling them the truth about what they were afraid of.
Some might say this isn’t the realm of the pastor. I say, baloney. Something that affects the whole of society so profoundly, especially the members of the flock of God that pastors are supposed to shepherd, should be something that a pastor makes his business to understand.
I quickly realized in 2020 simply by looking at the Canadian government’s publicly available data that covid was nothing to fear and the response was greatly exaggerated. Pastors might be busy, but this took no more than a few minutes of my time.
If we can’t speak truth in a non-spiritual context, how can we speak spiritual truth? And why should anyone believe us?
If we can’t speak up when evil is being done, what good are we?
If we can’t take the risk to defy ungodly orders when the stakes are relatively low, how on earth do we think we’ll be able to when they’re higher?
Summary
Romans 13:1-5 describes the ideal, God-ordained function of the state.
Authority is given by God, and authorities will answer to him for how they use it.
The command to obey the governing authorities applies when their laws reflect God’s laws. We are responsible to obey God instead when they don’t.
Christians should be known as scrupulously law-abiding citizens, under normal circumstances and just laws.
This is so well stated, the church has been a huge disappointment for me this past 2+ years. We’re supposed to be salt and light and are commanded to “fear not”! We as Christians possess the good news for a dark and hurting world and yet we look no different and are so timid about speaking out. It’s long past time for boldness in the church! Thanks again!
Well written. Thank-you!