On July 1 of this year, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, banned singing in worship services, citing Coronavirus as his reason. On July 13, Newsom issued another Public Health Order prohibiting worshipers from holding indoor religious worship services in over 30 counties (including in small groups in their own homes).
Two notable pushbacks against Newsom’s orders have occurred in the last week,
1) A network of California churches filed a lawsuit against Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, alleging that his recent coronavirus lockdown order — which temporarily banned all indoor church operations, including in-home Bible studies — is unconstitutional. Harvest International Ministry, which has church campuses in Pasadena, Corona, and Irvine, argued in the complaint that churchgoers in California are having their gatherings severely restricted while protesters are being permitted to demonstrate without any restriction, the Washington Times reported.
Liberty Counsel filed the suit on behalf of Harvest Rock Church and an associated organization, Harvest International Ministry. Each is headquartered in Pasadena. Harvest Rock has multiple campuses.
"While the Governor has unilaterally and significantly restricted the number of individuals permitted to 'gather' in Plaintiffs' churches, he has imposed no similar restrictions on the untold thousands of protesters who have gathered all throughout California cities with no threat of criminal sanction, and no social distancing or restrictions whatsoever," the complaint stated. "And, the Governor explicitly encouraged such large gatherings of protesters while condemning churches for [singing] hymns in their churches.”
"Governor Gavin Newsom cannot disregard the First Amendment and ban all in-person worship in private homes and churches. Nor can the state micromanage the form of worship by banning singing or chanting. The governor is not the High Priest over all religions," Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, the religious liberty legal group representing Harvest in the lawsuit, said in a statement.
"There [are] not two First Amendments — one for protests and one for houses of worship," Staver added. "Gov. Newsom encourages thousands of protesters to gather in the streets but bans in-person worship and home Bible studies and fellowship. This discriminatory treatment is unconstitutional."
2) Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, which is pastored by influential theologian and author John MacArthur, announced Friday that it would continue holding in-person services, saying state mandates restricting worship are an overstep of government authority and thus they have no duty to follow them. MacArthur stated in a blog post published on Friday that "government officials have no right to interfere in ecclesiastical matters in a way that undermines or disregards the God-given authority of pastors and elders."
"Therefore, in response to the recent state order requiring churches in California to limit or suspend all meetings indefinitely, we, the pastors and elders of Grace Community Church, respectfully inform our civic leaders that they have exceeded their legitimate jurisdiction, and faithfulness to Christ prohibits us from observing the restrictions they want to impose on our corporate worship services," MacArthur wrote.
"The biblical order is clear: Christ is Lord over Caesar, not vice versa. Christ, not Caesar, is head of the church," MacArthur wrote. "Conversely, the church does not in any sense rule the state. Again, these are distinct kingdoms, and Christ is sovereign over both."
He also argued that because the church is by nature an assembly, any restrictions goes against the nature of the church "in principle."
"As government policy moves further away from biblical principles, and as legal and political pressures against the church intensify, we must recognize that the Lord may be using these pressures as means of purging to reveal the true church," MacArthur wrote. "Succumbing to governmental overreach may cause churches to remain closed indefinitely. How can the true church of Jesus Christ distinguish herself in such a hostile climate? There is only one way: bold allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ."
➡️ Read MacArthur's full statement here.
It will be interesting to observe the outcome of this religious liberty conflict in California. Churches (some) are getting fed up with increasingly hostile measures directed at them while protestors and rioters receive Newsom’s repeated blessing. Newsom (who is Nancy Pelosi’s nephew), by demonstrating selective enforcement of his own orders is causing significant marginalization and resentment among Christian believers.
We will be watching this development because we care about religious liberty, and we are mindful of religious overtones that play a role in the eschatological climax of biblical prophecy.
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“Courts of justice are corrupt. Rulers are actuated by desire for gain and love of sensual pleasure. Intemperance has beclouded the faculties of many so that Satan has almost complete control of them. Jurists are perverted, bribed, deluded. Drunkenness and revelry, passion, envy, dishonesty of every sort, are represented among those who administer the laws. "Justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter" Isaiah 59:14 (Great Controversy 586).