Christ is Lord of all. He is the one true head of the church (Ephesians 1:22; 5:23; Colossians 1:18). He is also the King of kings – sovereign over every earthly authority (1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14: 19:16). Grace Community Church has always stood immovably on those biblical principles. As His people, we are subject to His will and commands as revealed in Scripture. Therefore, we cannot and will not allow the government to dictate how we conduct weekly congregational worship or other regular corporate gatherings. Compliance would be disobedience to our Lord’s clear commands. Scripture does mandate careful, conscientious obedience to all governing authorities (in Peter’s words, “not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable” [1 Peter 2:18]). We are to obey our civil authorities as powers that God Himself has ordained, as long as government authorities do not attempt to issue orders that forbid our obedience to God’s law. However, while civil government is invested with divine authority to rule the state, Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 do not grant civic rulers’ jurisdiction over the church. God has established three institutions within human society: the family, the state, and the church. God has not granted civic rulers’ authority over doctrine, practice, or polity of the church. 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.
When any government official issues orders regulating worship (such as bans on singing, caps on attendance, or prohibitions against gatherings and services), he steps outside the legitimate bounds of his God-ordained authority as a civic official. 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. Caesar himself is subject to God. Jesus affirmed that principle when He told Pilate, “You would have no authority over me, unless it had been given you from above” (John 19:11). And because Christ is the head of the church, ecclesiastical matters pertain to His Kingdom, not Caesar’s. Jesus said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17). Scripture alone defines how and whom they are to serve (1 Corinthians 4:1-4). They have no duty to follow orders from a civil government attempting to regulate the worship or governance of the church.
Each local church, however, through its elders and their interpretation and application of Scripture, should be the sole judge of the measure of method of its cooperation. The Elders should determine all other matters of membership, policy, discipline, benevolence, and government as well (Acts 15:19-31; 20:28; 1 Corinthians 5:4-7, 13; 1 Peter 5:1-4). As the church, we do not need the state’s permission to serve and worship our Lord as He commanded. The church is Christ’s precious bride (2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:23-27). She belongs to Him alone. She exists by His will and serves under His authority.
The honor that we rightly owe our earthly governors and magistrates (Romans 13:7) does not include compliance when such officials attempt to subvert sound doctrine, corrupt biblical morality, exercise ecclesiastical authority, or supplant Christ as head of the church in any other way. The biblical order is clear: Christ is Lord over Caesar, not vice versa. Christ, not Caesar, is head of the church. Neither church nor state has any higher authority than that of Christ Himself, who declared, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18).
We are not making a constitutional argument, even though the First Amendment of the United States Constitution expressly affirms this principle in its opening words: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The right we are appealing to was not created by the Constitution. It is one of those unalienable rights granted solely by God, who ordained human government and establishes both the extent and the limitations of the state’s authority (Romans 13:1-7). Our argument therefore is purposely not grounded in the First Amendment; it is based on the same biblical principles that the Amendment itself is founded upon. The exercise of true religion is a divine duty given to men and women created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26; Acts 4:18-20; 5:29; Matthew 22:16-22). Freedom of worship is a command of God, not a privilege granted by the state.
Christians are commanded not to forsake the practice of meeting together (Hebrews 10:25) – and no earthly state has a right to restrict, delimit, or forbid the assembling of believers. A 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. Succumbing to government 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.
Christ is the one true head of His church, and we intend to honor that vital truth in all our gatherings. For that preeminent reason, we cannot accept and will not bow to the intrusive restrictions government officials now want to impose on our congregation. We offer this response not out of hearts that are combative or rebellious (1 Timothy 2:1-8; 1 Peter 2:13-17), but with a sobering awareness that we must answer to the Lord Jesus for the stewardship He has given to us as shepherds of His precious flock.
To government officials, we respectfully say with the apostles, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge” (Acts 4:19). And our unhesitating reply to that question is the same as the apostles’: “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). Our prayer is that every faithful congregation will stand with us in obedience to our Lord as Christians have done through the centuries.