An Open Letter to My Church
Open letters are usually in response to something that went wrong. They are a medium where grievances and critiques can be shared for all to see.
What about when something goes right? There are thousands of things in my life that go well everyday, and I’ve never stopped to write an open letter celebrating them. But what if something goes right AND it involves masks and updated covid mitigation protocols? I think that definitely deserves an open letter! So, here goes:
Dear Church Family,
I had something on my heart and couldn’t wait for my regular Friday email. Forgive me for sending 2 mass emails this week.
I’m watching groups across our country fight about masks, vaccines, and other things related to the pandemic. School boards across Northwest Arkansas are meeting to decide what they’re going to do as the new school year begins in just a few days, and the issues on the table are becoming increasingly divisive. Everyone’s “covid-fatigue” is manifesting itself in different ways. It’s exhausting.
I watched a video today of a school board meeting in TN. People had lots of different opinions, and they were very vocal in sharing them, sometimes resorting to threats and violence to those who opposed them.
In the midst of this, hospitals are filling up, healthcare workers are exhausted, and people are dying from Covid-19. It’s not an overstatement to say we are in a crisis.
As I was thinking about all this today, the Lord spoke and reminded me of last Sunday. It was the first Sunday since our board updated our Covid policy and strongly encouraged people to wear masks again. I did not receive 1 negative email after making this announcement. By contrast, a school board member shared with me the volume and virulence of emails he had received on both sides of the mask issue.
More importantly, however, I looked around the lobby this past Sunday and everyone was wearing masks, complying with the recommendation of our board. This happened not because you were forced, but because you believed the wellbeing of your neighbor was more important than your personal comfort or freedom.
In a divisive world where a hyper-insistence on personal rights is tearing communities apart, the Lord is forming a people at our church who are committed to loving their neighbor. I wanted to reach out and say thank you for being an example. Thank you for loving your neighbor well. Thank you for recognizing the claim that the Gospel has on your life, and therefore, on your comforts, privileges, and rights. The Gospel has claimed all of that and placed it under the lordship of Jesus!
Too often we think of freedom only as “freedom from.” (sin, tyranny, legalism, government overreach, etc). The freedom Christ came to bring, however, is primarily “freedom for.” We are free for our neighbor and free for God’s mission. We are free in Christ to love, free to bless, free to sacrifice, and free to surrender for the sake of the vulnerable. We do this knowing that our hope is in Christ. We are free to wear a mask for the sake of our community’s well being.
The Lord really filled my heart as I thought about how well we embraced these new protocols. I don’t think mask wearing will last forever, but it’s what we need to do for right now. When the world is yelling and screaming at each other about their rights and their freedom, a community of people collectively made a decision to be inconvenienced to protect the vulnerable among them.
I just wanted to say thank you! You nailed it. You loved your neighbor well, and I’m proud to be your pastor.
I hope to see you on Sunday. I’ll have my mask on, but you can be sure there’s a smile under that mask!
Until He’s Finished,
Pastor Mark
