Living In Fear & Sin Is Not Virtuous or Godly

Word-Of-The-Day: ‘Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?’ (1 Corinthians 3:16)

This week, several towns in Massachusetts are returning to COVID-era lockdowns, in a voluntary and limited at this time, for Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE). Though only one case of human infection has occurred, four Massachusetts towns (Douglas, Oxford, Sutton, and Webster) are enacting a voluntary evening lockdown from 5 PM to ‘dawn’, and many of the scholastic sporting events in these towns (including high school football) are either being cancelled or postponed until the first hard frost occurs, which will likely occur sometime in mid to late October. Other areas, such as Plymouth, are also enacting similar edicts.

The officials of Massachusetts are using fear, in this case the fear of contracting EEE, to control the population of the people. It may not necessarily be intentional, but it is clear the expectation is no one should be outside, even at Plymouth, where the beachgoers typically could continue to frolic there through the end of September. It is likely many Massachusetts communities, especially those dependent on tourism like Plymouth, will be impacted by these imposed curfews.

This edict may possibly affect large gatherings of people, like Sunday morning church services, though EEE is spread through mosquitoes and not human-to-human interactions. Though there has been no proclamation yet, the curfew and restrictions on scholastic sporting events are due to the risk of large groups of people providing mosquitoes more targets, so it is possible restrictions could be attempted on congregations as well.

Like COVID, most cases of EEE do not end up in severe reactions or death. Many cases are very mild and for most cases in will be more in line with having cold-like symptoms. But the fear of having a severe case, where 30% of severe cases can end up in death, drives people to panic and become overly protective, and in the case of government officials the results are restricting freedoms for the cause of safety. It is a capitulation to fear instead of facing the fear and understanding that life, and living it, comes with inherent risks.

Capitulation to the enemy, Satan, and to the world whose viewpoint he controls, is something most Christians believe they have successfully resisted, but many nevertheless and unwittingly are ensnarled by.  It starts with a tolerance of a ‘minor’ sin, something that appears we can compromise on.  This can start out as fear; when COVID started, the fear was it would be like the bubonic plague and kill 50% of all human beings, and we needed to curb freedoms for 2 weeks to stop its spread. 

Then it was we had to wear masks (then 2 masks, in some places), and we needed vaccinated, then a booster shot, and another.  We then needed vaccination passports in several states and cities (like New York, Los Angeles, and Washington DC) to go and eat in restaurants.  The fear has caused a scapegoat in the ‘unvaccinated’, and in many places those who are the ‘goats’ are shunned, denied medical service (such as a man needing a heart transplant in Boston, or a veteran in North Carolina needing a kidney), or are sent to internment camps as was the case in Australia. 

The fear caused a capitulation to the enemy; the fear is what is driving a wedge between the Church and the world because it works to Satan’s advantage.  A church that is open may spread disease, but a church also open spreads Truth.  The choice for the secularist is to either close the church or have it fall into tolerating or even promoting the secular worldview.  In the case of Canadian churches, the churches had been pressed to close due to COVID, and then to open only under the conditions to preach a government-approved, anti-Godly doctrine of sexual perversion and gender fluidity.   The churches closed and reopened in fear.

The fear of EEE, like COVID, is tangible and can be somewhat excused early on, but the fear of being rejected by the world due to being intolerant to its feelings is anti-Christian.  Will Christians in Massachusetts fall into the same trap?

We are, both individually and corporately, the Church.  Paul tells us through the question asked in 1 Corinthians 3:16, that each Christian is the Church, that each of us is an individual temple and that God dwells within each of us, via the Holy Spirit.  Do you tolerate or overlook sin as a Christian, such as overlooking the sins of abortion, euthanasia, sexual ambiguity, among others?  Is it due to the desire to fit into a secular, societal norm?

We know we are not to live in fear but in Faith; Joshua 1:9 God commands us to be strong and courageous and have Faith He has our back. The only fear we should have is of God’s correction, not the fear of EEE, COVID, or societal persecution. We should never again allow the fear of a chance possibility of illness or societal repercussion overrides our Faith, and I pray for the churches in Massachusetts to remain open and strong in their Faith.

Again, YOU are the church; YOU have God dwelling within you.  Living in fear and sin is a societal virtue but not a Christian virtue; we must stand together for the principles of Christ and against the fear of being rejected or persecuted by society.  We must never abandon God’s righteousness for Satan’s fear-mongering and tolerance-baiting.  Most of us are fortunate MBC is standing with Christ!  Just make sure you stand firm in your Faith!  Never let fear win.