Christian unity is found in Jesus and His Gospel, not masks or mandates, say pastors

Christians won’t be united by their views on masks, vaccines, or mandates, says Brian Lowe of Exodus Church in Belmont, North Carolina.

“What unites us has to be Jesus and His Gospel,” the pastor says.

His perspective was echoed by other pastors who, along with their congregations’ leaders, have ridden the wave of shutdowns and COVID-19 controversies for the past two years while trying to keep unity in the Body.

“Most of our people have handled themselves really well,” Brian says. “We had different perspectives on things, different opinions. COVID made us wear those on our face. I think our people have been as kind and gracious to one another as possible.”

Tom Zobrist, pastor at Liberty Bible Church in Eureka, Illinois, says his church “has chosen not to have an opinion, but to let people have their own opinions and let them handle it the way they want to.”

“We don’t judge one another for what our personal choices are,” he says. “We try to stay in the Scriptures and not get into the personal political things that are going on in the world. You make your own choice. We’re not going to judge.”

Kyle Gennicks, who pastors Mission Church in Montgomery, Illinois, says his congregation, which was 18 months old when stay-at-home orders went out, “didn’t have the luxury to divide over masking or vaccines or policies and procedures.”

“We were going to unite or we weren’t going to survive,” Kyle says. “From day one, I just hunkered down in Ephesians 4 and focused on what it looks like to maintain a spirit of unity through the bond of peace and gentle, humble bearing with one another in love. I focused on all of those ‘ones’ in the chapter: one Lord, one faith, one baptism. There are always going to be more things to divide us than unite us, but the few things that we do unite around are so powerful that it doesn’t really leave room for division.”

Cliff McManis, pastor at Creekside Bible Church in Cupertino, California, “hammered away” on Romans 14, which discourages quarreling “over opinions” (Romans 14:1).

“It comes down to deference toward your brothers and sisters in Christ, loving one another, preserving the unity of the Body, recognizing your freedoms in Christ but not abusing your freedom to be divisive in the Church,” Cliff says.

St. Paul Baptist Church in Peoria, Illinois, has been blessed by a lack of division over COVID-19 issues, says its pastor, Deveraux Hubbard.

“One of the things we tried to do early on was just to highlight living out the law of love,” the pastor says. “Being able to honor one another regardless of our thoughts and opinions and views and to do what’s in the best interest of the other person, even if we have a difference in opinions.

“If we could just give one another some grace, then that’ll help all of us not just in the Body, but it’ll help other people in the community. I think we’ve really been blessed. Not that we don’t have people in our congregation that have different views, but I think we’ve been blessed that it has not been a source of division.”

Michael Miller is Samaritan Ministries newsletter editor.

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