It has come to my attention that churches are beginning/or will soon start to require COVID vaccination proof of members/visitors for in-person service. I don’t want to make any bold assertions, except to say boldly that ecclesiastical assertions about vaccination proof are tyrannical. And I say these things as a pastor who would gladly give his blood for mother church. But we must all be equal-opportunity offenders and call BS (blatant sin) wherever it is found.
It’s important to begin with some basic church math for starters. In Church history and the biblical data, a gathered assembly is only legitimate if it incorporates these three marks of a church:
a) Preaching, b) Sacraments, and Discipline.
On preaching, Louis Berkhof says, “This is the most important mark of the Church. . . . It does not mean that the preaching must be perfect and absolutely pure, but that it must be true to the fundamentals of the Christian religion and must have a controlling influence on faith and practice.” The preaching sets the stage for much of church culture.
Concerning the Sacraments, a local body must affirm the presence of Christ, whether spiritually or bodily. Disputes on this topic have led to numerous conclusions, but the general premise is that the Supper must be practiced, whether frequently or infrequently in a local body. The Gospel rule is that a church must “do this.”
Finally, the act of discipline must be a faithfully executed practice in a local body (Matt. 18:15–20; 1 Cor. 5:1–13). If ministers do not discipline in excommunication, rebuke, exhortation, encouragement, and love, the church will quickly find itself surrounded by an army of disgruntled and unrighteous people who give ear to their own voices and despise submission and truth.
These requirements sustain the church’s worship and practice. Without them, a church one doth not have. We cannot practice one without the others. Similarly, for a church to operate legitimately, she cannot demand members in good standing to fit into a particular box as a pre-requisite to taste and see that the Lord is good in the gathered assembly.
And this is where we find ourselves entering the terrain of the profane when some churches demand as a pre-requisite for worship some form of vaccination proof. While the three marks above define a true church, the addition of other marks de-mark a church. Such stipulations go against the very fabric of ecclesiastical life by formulating its own sacramental life and stipulating its own admission cards.
By requiring proof of vaccination, such leadership is adding a fourth mark, thus fabricating an unbiblical requirement for worship. When local shepherds add this mark–for whatever noble reasons used–they have lost the ability to properly minister within the established bounds of an authentic church. They have forsaken their callings and thus operate outside the boundaries of ecclesiastical authority. They are, in my estimation, abusing their legitimate role and should be defrocked, and should they be allowed to remain within their professional status, without any ecclesiastical repercussion, local church members are justified in leaving such bodies to attend safe and biblical churches not constrained by unbiblical and abusive demands.
While members are within their rights to make decisions that best suit their families and their medical concerns, ministers are not given the right to make ecclesiastical imperatives of their parishioners on the threat of non-entrance and non-participation of in-person gathering. The gates of Zion are open to all, and while matters of wisdom should be considered by all members of the church, no minister is allowed to assert himself above his prescribed duties.