By Davis Carlton

I’ve recently criticized Todd Friel for his insistence that Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 require Christians to obey mask mandates (Part 1 and Part 2). I certainly don’t intend to beat a dead horse, especially in light of Colby’s recently published piece on why wearing masks isn’t “loving thy neighbor.” Quite frankly there isn’t much more that needs to be said about the coronavirus or government policies, especially in light of the CDC’s recent concession that 94% of patient deaths attributed to coronavirus were cases in which co-morbidities contributed to death. The overwhelming majority of people who contracted COVID-19 who were otherwise healthy did not die and recovered without lasting detriments to their health. Many who test positive for coronavirus report only mild symptoms, if symptoms are even present at all. At this point there is simply no justification for the continued restrictions that state and local governments have imposed in order to protect people from the spread of coronavirus and the only possible motivations for continuing these measures are malicious.

The draconian measures taken by Governor Gavin Newsome which effectively forbid indoor Christian worship and singing were finally resisted by popular evangelical pastor John MacArthur when he decided that it was time for his congregation, Grace Community Church (GCC) to meet again for regular Sunday worship. This led to MacArthur being denounced by evangelical limp wristed wet blankets like Jonathan Leeman of 9 Marks who invoked the principle of absolute submission to government to denounce MacArthur’s decision, and liberals accusing MacArthur not loving his neighbor. Todd Friel has come to MacArthur’s defense, but Friel’s defense reveals a complete inconsistency with his own position on submission to government mask mandates.

Friel defends GCC’s decision to return to regular services after MacArthur and his elders considered the facts at hand and made the decision that they believed was best. Friel contends that this does not violate Biblical commandments to obey the government because the government cannot force people to commit sin. The elders of GCC believed that the command to publicly worship God must be obeyed unless sufficiently grave circumstances make this impossible. The elders ultimately determined that there was not sufficient grounds for remaining closed and decided to reopen in spite of government injunctions seeking to prevent this. MacArthur himself has gone so far as to say that we have been played by the government!¹ Friel defends the decision of GCC while stressing that this decision isn’t necessarily what’s best in every circumstance and that this should be understood as a local church issue.

Friel anticipates that some will accuse him of being inconsistent with his earlier insistence that Christians are required to obey mask mandates because of what is taught in Rom. 13 and 1 Pet. 2. Friel states that wearing a mask and worshiping God are completely different activities that are in no way the same. This is true but it doesn’t help Friel’s case, chiefly because in theory meeting for Sunday worship and wearing a mask aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive. GCC didn’t simply disregard state and local mandates forbidding indoor church services, but they also flouted social distancing protocols and mask mandates as well. MacArthur himself laughed when asked about this very issue.

Given that MacArthur and GCC could have chosen to reopen but still obey mask mandates and social distancing, why isn’t Friel joining the many denunciations of MacArthur from the evangelical world? Aren’t celebrity pastors also required to submit to the government? I appreciate MacArthur’s stand, while also noting that there have been pastors standing up to government propaganda since it began this Spring. I’m also glad that Todd Friel hasn’t joined the chorus of voices dog-piling MacArthur, but there is no question that Friel’s support for MacArthur is inconsistent with his previous statements about submitting to government mask mandates. Perhaps Friel’s admiration for MacArthur has helped him to come around on the issue of submitting to government mask mandates, because his support for MacArthur is inconsistent with his previous statements about Christian duty in light of Rom. 13 and 1 Pet. 2. The least that Friel could do would be to acknowledge that his position has changed.