Nero, Christ And Covid

INTRO: I plan to go overtime over the usual overtime, time. Due to covid, this message is a little longer than usual. We are presently in a time of a declared pandemic. This declaration puts health officials in a more authoritative position in the everyday affairs of people. Governments are trying to contain the pandemic, at least that is what they say, and they are using various procedures to seek to do that.

For us as Christians, this has created a dilemma. We are all familiar with Romans 13:1 which says:

1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.

The responsibilities the government is taking on is encroaching on that which God requires of believers, and we struggle now with how far Romans 13:1 applies. This verse was one Hitler's Nazis all knew and used. Whenever they met Christians who resisted what Hitler was doing, they used Romans 13:1 to try to guilt them into obedience.