Is It Time for Kiwi Churches to Disobey the Government? Short Answer for Me: No.

I was asked the other day by a pastor whether it is time for the church to say no to the government requirements concerning vaccine certificates. The pastor spoke of not wanting to be a bouncer and having to find ways to block the unvaccinated from services. I sent off an email later that day, but the question is nagging away at me. I thought I would throw some thoughts down.

The injunction to obey the governing authorities is clear in the NT. First, Jesus endorses the payment of taxes to Caesar (Mark 12:17 & parallels). Second, Paul twice urges readers to submit to the government authorities including paying taxes (Rom 13:1–7; Tit 3:1). Third, Peter urges his readers to subject themselves to human authorities including the king. On the whole, this picks up the OT threads of the same including the likes of Joseph, Daniel, and Esther, being obedient (in the main) to the governments of the day. The general view is that governments are used by God as a means to govern his world to deal with evil and promote goodness. 

Still, there is clear evidence throughout the Bible that this injunction to submit is not unlimited obedience. There are times when believers will refuse the government, usually when it asks believers or the church to violate the core of the gospel, especially placing submission to a government above God himself. So, in the book of Daniel, despite being a very important official in the Babylonian government, Daniel refused to bow to an idol and was thrown into a lion’s den. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, similarly, were thrown into a fire for the same. Many were martyred in Israel’s history for such refusals, especially in the Maccabean revolt. Revelation 13 suggests that there is a time to say no to a government asking believers to violate the exclusive worship of God. Romans, Titus, and 1 Peter exhort believers to worship God and his Son, and as such, while they are to obey the government, there is a limit on this.

So, where are we at here in NZ?

The government has introduced vaccine mandates whereby when we go into the so-called traffic light system, under red (the harshest level), churches are allowed up to 100 people present if all people present vaccination certificates. If not, the limit is 10 people. Hence, if we have mixed gatherings, the limit is ten people in a room worshiping together. When we move to orange, the limit on numbers is removed if the attendees all have the certificates, whereas groups including those without the certificates are limited to 50 people. The third level is green where again there is no limit for those with the vaccination certificates while if the uncertificated are included, the limit is 100. (See for this, https://covid19.govt.nz/alert-levels-and-updates/covid-19-protection/).

So, churches have a choice when we move into the red light system on December 3. They can obey the government and reopen with the limit of 100 as long as people have the certificates. If not, the limit is 10. I imagine some churches will simply reject this and meet with as many as they want to. They may include those who believe “enough is enough,” perhaps including those who are currently protesting across the country. Others will choose not to reopen at all rather than doing this, continuing zoom, youtube, or videoed services to avoid the problem (this is of course an example of compliance). Some might get creative and join together in groups of varying sizes across a geographical area (again, an example of compliance). Others will obey the government and meet with groups of up to 100 people with vaccination certificates. They might use multiple services. Some of these will broadcast their services live so that the unvaccinated and the extremely vulnerable who are not ready to risk attending such a gathering, can participate virtually.

As for me, I think that I fall into the latter category. This is why. On the one hand, I hate the idea of a government telling us as God’s children when and how we can meet. Something inside me really struggles with this. However, as with all contagious pandemics, this is a very unique situation and I think compliance is appropriate.

First, I am pro-life to the core, and as a pro-life person, the safety of the vulnerable is paramount in my thinking. As I read the situation, the best way to keep people safe is to be vaccinated and where people in their wisdom choose not to be vaccinated, I want to protect them. I also want to protect the vulnerable for whom Covid-19 is lethal. It is irresponsible in my view, to allow anyone into a room to worship together without doing all we can to protect each other. I want those who regularly attend to know that we are concerned for their protection and so they can come to church knowing that those there are vaccinated. There are also children present, and I want to protect them and their families, and the best way to do this is to endorse the mandate.

Secondly, the intent of our government is not to limit people’s religious freedom, they are limiting the freedom of everyone and every group to protect people. In fact, this includes the unvaccinated who, in the view of most scientists in the fields, are much more vulnerable to hospitalisation and death. They are also trying to protect the health system so hospitals are not clogged up with Covid patients meaning people with other issues cannot get treatment. As such, their purpose is not anti-God, anti-Christian, or anti-religion, it is to stop people from getting together and spreading the virus to protect people and our health system. Hence, this is not like Revelation where a beastly ruler is forcing people into submission; our government is motivated for good and not ill. Hence, even if do quibble about aspects of the government’s response quite often, I feel constrained to “in principle,” support them.

Third, this is not forever. Their own regulations indicate that we will move through red to orange and then to green, and hopefully, in the not-too-distant future, we will be back living with pre-pandemic freedoms. As such, by yielding to their requirements I do so knowing that this is for a time, for the common good, and that by doing so, I/we are doing our bit to ensure that as few Kiwis as possible die from the pandemic.

Fourth, for Christians to be Christians they do not need to meet in large groups. There are many ways to meet. We can meet in small groups, outdoors, virtually—in fact, with modern technology, we have more ways of meeting available to us than any generation before us. We don’t need to sing; we can pray to God with masks on. We don’t have to hug. We don’t have to eat meals. At least, for a season. We can find ways to meet, protect each other, and not needlessly antagonise the government.

As such, I believe the church should obey the government concerning gatherings and vaccination certificates.

However, I also believe passionately that we need to do everything we can to make worship available to the unvaccinated. We can perhaps do this by encouraging people to meet in homes or other venues and join the service, or even in an outside setting where they can meet in greater numbers. Perhaps, if the weather is good, we can have our services outside to allow all people to attend evenly. We can stay with zoom gatherings. We can have multiple gatherings throughout the day. There are lots of creative things we can do.

It may be that the time will come in this pandemic when Christians should stand against the government’s regulations. But for me, it is not yet; in fact, it is not even close. I do hope that day never comes. 

I also know that some Christians and churches will disagree with me in this. I acknowledge your right to do so and encourage you to live to the Lord by your own conscience(s). I will not judge you for that and will love you as a brother or sister in Christ. I will support you. I will be praying for you and all Christians as we find our way through these times. 

I also encourage us all to remain united as God’s people through this crisis. We are one people and we must continue to walk together as such. Getting vaccinated is not a command of God, it is something we all decide on. We can disagree on this and remain people who love one another and retain our unity. Christians have done this for centuries.  

All in all then, while we are all being severely tested in this time, I don't believe this is the time to resist the government and defy the vaccine passport gathering system.