For a Christian, whether or not to do, abstain from, or believe something typically revolves around one basic question: What would Jesus do? Loving God and our neighbor, treating others as we would want to be treated, helping the poor, the widowed, and the sick - these are all key principles taught by the Son of God as laid out in the four Gospels that begin the New Testament, and typically forms the foundation of Christian thought and belief no matter how politically liberal or conservative an adherent is.
A more liberal Christian might focus on those more positive aspects of Christianity and shun others of what proponents of their faith have historically believed, while more conservative Christians find ways to include in their beliefs what they consider the whole of Scripture, both the positive and the negative (like unpalatable passages from the Old Testament, eternal conscious punishment, etc.).
This is all understandable and expected, especially given human nature. We all tend to interpret the Bible based on our own presuppositions and belief systems. Sure, most everyone believes their particular interpretation is the ONE AND ONLY CORRECT WAY but, thankfully, Americans have the right to believe and practice any faith we choose, and Christians can interpret the Bible in any way we see fit. That said, a wise person of any denomination or faith would do well to watch out for faith leaders, especially famous ones, who twist and distort passages from the Bible, and especially the words or actions of Christ, to suit their own political ends.
On the political right, an example of this might be a ‘faith-healing’ pastor who ignores the pandemic because he is ‘absolutely certain’ that God will protect his flock from death or serious outcome. Sadly, there have been several examples like this, including Cornerstone megachurch pastor John Hagee, who while recovering from coronavirus famously said, “we have a vaccine; the name is Jesus Christ, the son of the living God.” It’s one thing to explain the science and data behind why we can’t lock down forever, masks don’t work and leaky vaccines can’t end the pandemic on their own, but it’s quite another to convince people to take needless risks they otherwise wouldn’t take based on a false, unbiblical premise.
Thankfully, examples like that are fairly rare, but for obvious reasons they predictably get wide play by the media. Far more prevalent - and even encouraged by the media and powers-that-be - are Christian arguments from the left that focus on vaccines and mask use as something that ‘Jesus would have done.’ Most notably of late, Saddleback Church pastor and author Rick Warren:
“The Bible says ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,” Warren said in March in a video that recently gained widespread attention on social media. “The most practical way right now you can love your neighbor as yourself, wear a mask. Okay? And to not wear one basically says, ‘I don’t care about you,’ or ‘I don’t even care about your fears.’”
So, according to Warren and others with that mindset, one must “wear a mask” in order to properly love our neighbor. Nevermind that there is a preponderance of perfectly valid scientific and data-based evidence that masking DOES NOT WORK to stop the spread of Covid-19 or any other highly contagious respiratory virus, you should just wear one anyway so your ‘neighbor’ knows you care about them. Nevermind that universal masking creates a false sense of security that everyone is ‘safe’ from contracting or spreading Covid and that this false sense of security quite likely made a lot of people unnecessarily sick over the past year and a half, the feelz dictates we mask up because our ‘neighbor’ might be a media-induced hypochondriac deceived into thinking that masks work and the risk of Covid is much higher than it actually is.
Obviously, you can see where this is going. It’s what happens when someone with influence over others interprets and applies a Biblical passage or concept unilaterally to a highly charged modern political issue while ignoring all nuance and dismissing other ways of interpretation. Sadly, such tactics have always been part of the toolboxes of religious demagogues hellbent on imposing ‘their way or the highway’ on their followers.
In truth, Jesus commanded us to love the Lord first with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, then to love our neighbors as ourselves. How then are we to love the Lord with our minds if we dismiss data and evidence on a topic that goes against our presuppositions or a prevailing narrative? How are we to ‘love’ our neighbors while at the same time bearing false witness to them? Is our duty to make them “feel better” or to tell them the truth? What would Jesus have done? In an age where masking has become a talisman, even an idol of sorts to people desperate to find something, anything that ‘controls’ something that is ultimately proving to be uncontrollable, would the Son of God have given people comfort by lying to them or by telling them the truth?
No, I don’t believe Jesus Christ would have put on a mask any more than I think he would have pretended a blood sacrifice to a graven image would have brought rain during a time of drought. And when at all possible, you shouldn’t either.
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