There was a problem in First Century Christianity where Jews were coming to the faith in the resurrected Christ having their consciences bound to rules that suddenly did not apply. Under the Old Covenant, simply touching a dead body or unclean thing, or eating an animal that had consumed an unclean thing, was a sin against a holy God and would put a separation between him and you. (Confer Haggai 2:12-13)
By logical extension, food offered to an idol became tainted
by that action and idol, and consuming that food united the consumer with sin, thus driving
a wedge into their relationship with God. The New Covenant declared that it was
not just the touching of external things that defiled a person, but that their
very heart was defiled and defiling. See (Matthew 15:10-20)
If the original commandment wasn’t harsh enough, Jesus shone
a light on just how holy God is, and that God’s standards were impossibly more
difficult than men had tried to remake them. But with that revelation of
holiness, Jesus also delivered hope of cleansing, a new heart, a recreation
of the man from old to new, and a complete reconciliation with God through the
blood of his cross.
Jesus proved this himself when a woman touched him who was
ceremonially unclean. When she touched him, he did not become defiled--as a
mere man would have been--but instead power went out from him and she was not just
healed, but made right with God. (See Luke 8:42-48, amongst many others)
But this conviction of external defilement did not die
easily. Some new believers could not divorce their faith in Jesus’ saving power
from the idea that they were sinning against God by eating unclean animals or
meat that was sacrificed to idols. Rather than simply confronting these
brothers for their error, Paul encouraged more mature believers to respect the
conscience of their weaker brothers by abstaining from meat sacrificed to idols in
their presence.
This has been used in the past months and weeks to say that
Christians ought to wear masks for the sake of their brothers who fear COVID-19
and/or think that wearing masks is right for whatever reason. The first failing
of this attempted application is that wearing of a mask is not a matter of sin or obedience
to God or fellowship with God. I have yet to meet any one at all, least of all Christians, who feel that they are serving God by wearing a mask or disobeying God by not wearing a mask. The second failing is that this actually
encourages Christians to fear COVID-19 or government mandates rather than God
(Matthew 10:28). Third, rather than protecting the conscience of the mask
wearer, this misaligns the stronger brother’s conscience with a command that has no
basis in scripture nor bearing on relationship with God.
Wearing a mask while citing the command to respect the
weaker brother’s conscience is a radical eisegis and damaging to both parties. Blatant
sin should be confronted: A mask cannot save your soul nor prolong your life; at
best it feigns obedience to the government and at worst it hides and mars the
image of God and silences the proclamation of his Word.
A legitimate extension of the command to respect the
conscience of others would be to say, “If you feel that wearing a mask is detrimental
to your relationship with God and others, then I won’t wear mine when I'm around you.” And
it says, “If shopping at such-and-such website perpetuates human slavery, then
I won’t shop at that website, or at least not brag about it to those who believe
it does perpetuate slavery.” Or “If masks could be hiding sex-trafficking or
domestic abuse, then I’ll encourage people to take them off when they are socially
distanced or at the very least ask if they are safe, healthy, and thriving.”
Those who have been perpetuating mask wear for the sake of
the weaker brother are they themselves tightening the chains of bondage, nurturing
the fear that hides the face of God, and promoting a false salvation that eternal
rewards are to be traded for temporal health.
So the next time someone is encouraging you to sin against
God by acquiescing to man’s wisdom, consider whether their conscience is bent
towards God’s eternal decrees, or serving their flesh. Whichever they are doing
will drastically drive your response.
