Who has the authority to determine how and when the Church will worship? That question is more penetrating than it first appears. It is not asking how your nation’s government is structured or how your constitution is written. It is not even asking what your church believes. It is an ultimate question. Who has the authority to determine how the Church will worship? There is only one answer to that question—Jesus Christ, the head of the Church. Even when scripture tells us to obey the governing authorities, it never grants ruling power to the government over the Church in this area.
In the early 1600s, King Charles attempted to take on the role of the head of the Church and determine how the Church in Scotland would worship. He did so by issuing a new version of the Book of Common Prayer and mandated that every church use it or face sanctions. If you read the book, there are many good things about it, but many Christians refused to use it and faced fines, imprisonment, and even death. Christians were not necessarily rejecting the book itself but the King’s imposition into an area where he did not belong.
In times like this, the Church must stand firm. It obeys Christ, not man. To follow this truth, it may mean that the Church might need to go underground to avoid persecution for a time, but it must not bow its knee to Ceasar in this area because Ceasar has not been given authority in this jurisdiction.
A new documentary, The Essential Church, now in theaters, tackles this topic with clarity and conviction. It shows how some of the same principles mentioned above applied to the churches that re-opened during the pandemic while the government forbade it. You will be mistaken if you have watched the preview and think this movie is primarily about the pandemic. It is about so much more than that. The pandemic was only one arena of many throughout history in which the government has tried to usurp Christ’s headship over the Church.
I appreciate this film because, though it points out that some civic leaders were likely motivated by ideologies and theories that see the church as insignificant at best or an enemy at worst, it does not assume all of them were. It also does not ridicule churches that decided to obey the governing mandates. There is some Christian liberty in how churches chose to respond based on their understanding of the threat at hand. However, no church should ever allow the government to dictate its worship, and many churches seemed to have based their decisions on a misreading of Romans 13, where Paul tells churches to obey governing authorities.
I have not been this impressed with a documentary in its content and the beauty of its craft since American Gospel. Whether you agree or disagree with the churches that stayed open during the pandemic, you owe it to yourself to engage with the broader truth offered in this film. I walked away edified and encouraged, and I think you will too.
-D. Eaton
The Fight of Faith 