Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has activated Executive Order #17 which began at 12:01AM March 23 and lasts until midnight April 6 and forbids "social gatherings of 10 or more." (https://www.tn.gov/governor/news/2020/3/22/gov--bill-lee-signs-executive-order-mandating-alternative-business-models-for-restaurants-and-gyms--lifts-alcohol-regulations.html)
I am ready to accede that the church of Christ can continue, "house to house." Public is not the point of our worship (Matthew 6:1-15), but assembling IS ("church" means "assembly"). When Saul "made havoc of the church" he was going to their houses (Acts 8:1-3). It is NOT "forsaking the assembling" to disperse into smaller groups for protection. But when it's done "for fear of the Jews" (John 20:19) then it casts a pall over the purpose. We should be gathering to emphasize our common love for God and our salvation through His Sacrifice, not because we are afraid for our lives, "For God has not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7). James was killed, Peter taken, and the church gathered at Mary's house (Acts 12:11-12). House churches seem to be the preservation of the church (1 Corinthians 16:19, etc.), but it places a strain on "coming together as a church" (1 Corinthians 11:18) "in one place" (1 Corinthians 11:20) "to eat the Lord's Supper." "Upon the first day of the week" (Acts 20:7) we should gather, whether all together or smaller groups at homes, but we must remember that it is the common faith and salvation that unites us all who are in Christ Jesus. "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread." (1 Corinthians 10:16-17) We are one in Jesus Christ, whether in the same building, or not.
My previous statement was simply to show that man's laws have absolutely no authority over God's Law. But whatever we need to do to continue to serve God with all our heart we should do. Whether we are "scattered" (Acts 8:4), or "let down in a basket through a window in the wall" (2 Corinthians 11:32-33), we should never be dissuaded, and must be like our first brethren, "daily in the temple and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ" (Acts 5:42). Obey God, adapt what we need to do, but persist in preaching the Gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15-16).
Hope this clarifies and prepares us for difficult times.
In Christ,
John T. Polk ll
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