This letter was written by a group of Christians in New Zealand. If you agree with the letter, then please share this letter with those in your local church.
On May 14 New Zealand went into COVID-19 alert level 2. Most businesses and services can now operate with social distancing and limits of 100 people. Multiple groups of ten can be in one room if separated by a two-metre distance but churches cannot open for worship in this manner. The Prime Minister has said that churches are limited to gatherings of ten. She will review these restrictions every two weeks. Perhaps after two weeks, 20 may gather for worship. Perhaps after 4 weeks, 50 may gather. Eventually, 100 might gather. It could be many more months before the government will allow congregations to worship as one.
We believe these restrictions on churches are against the Bill of Rights, and against what God commands in His Word believers should do.
We believe that these restrictions are unlawful as the Alert Level 2 Order itself does not mention churches or worship services, but this is the intent claimed by the Prime Minister. She and her advisors believe worship services are social gatherings. This leaves the order open to legal interpretation, which many have given their opinions on and we need not add to here. We shall briefly note that the Bill of Rights Act 1990 differentiates between social gatherings (Section 16, “freedom of peaceful assembly”) and worship services (Section 15, “manifestation of religion”). The Human Rights Act 1993 forbids indirect discrimination on the basis of religious belief. Our issue is not with limits placed on gatherings, but with the manifestly unjust treatment of religious communities by forcing them to endure harsher restrictions.
The government has issued statements arbitrarily excluding religious gathering where non-religious gathering is permitted. Shopping malls, nightclubs, restaurants, bars, professional sports, childcare, schools, and an innumerable list of non-religious activities are permitted. Shop owners and bar owners have been given guidelines to follow, often without specific limits on the number of attendees. Many church leaders have asked the government for fair treatment, but these calls have been ignored. We hold that arbitrary restrictions on public worship are ultra vires and therefore unlawful.
Christians believe that they should obey God first. The first table of the law is the great commandment (Matthew 22:38). God set apart a special day for His worship (Genesis 2:3). The Bible mentions the first time public worship was held (Genesis 4:26). Christian believers are exhorted to “not forsake the assembling of ourselves together” (Hebrews 10:25). God commands that His people gather to worship Him. There can be no public (or corporate) worship without the physical gathering of the body of Christ. When the church gathers for worship, Christ has promised to be in their midst (Matthew 18:20). This may be hard for non-Christians to understand, but Christ is to “the Greeks foolishness” (1 Cor 1:23).
When man’s law and God’s law do not agree, God’s command comes first. The Bible provides many examples of believers who had to disregard the law of the land to worship God. Peter and John said: “Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye” (Acts 4:19).
The law of the land has no unlimited authority. God is the ultimate source of authority and he has ordained governments with the duty to be his ministers for good (Rom 13:1-4). The Bible and history are both full of accounts where governments have defied God’s purpose. God’s people have disobeyed unlawful commands from civil leaders and have instead followed God’s commands. Christ himself commanded his disciples to “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:27). Worship belongs to God. When there is a conflict between the spiritual and secular, “we ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).
Every Christian has the duty to be a good citizen and participate in public life. Christians should stand for the rule of law, as per the Bill of Rights Act 1990. They should speak up when the government of the day overrules the highest protections of the land, however well-meaning the intentions of such a government are.
We believe churches are perfectly capable of taking public health advice, and open their doors when they believe this to be safe and responsible. If shopping malls and schools can do so, so can churches. Churches can balance their duty to the second table of the law with the first table.
We believe that churches are essential. We believe that public worship is not a social event, but rather necessary to the well-being of believers, providing essential food for the soul to hungry and needy sinners who trust in Christ for their salvation.
We encourage all churches grounded in a strong Biblical tradition to open their doors in a manner that honours God’s law and man’s law.
We call on the pastors and elders of the churches in New Zealand to prayerfully disregard the wishes of the Prime Minister and instead uphold the law of the land, in accordance with Section 15 of the Bill of Rights Act 1990, and most importantly to obey the Word of God while being a light to the nation.
This letter was written by a group of Christians in New Zealand. If you agree with the letter, then please share this letter with those in your local church.
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