Enough defending the indefensible. No matter how you feel about Johnny Mac, he is simply wrong here.

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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8624875/California-megachurch-holds-massive-services-7-000-people-defiance-social-distancing-orders.html

Rodney Howard Browne. Robert Jeffress. John MacArthur? It seems Johnny Mac has some strange bedfellows recently yet even that has not swayed him from the path he has now chosen. The once revered MacArthur as decided to thumb his nose at authority and open up his mega church in the midst of the greatest pandemic in 100 years. Some feel I was too hard on MacArthur but you must understand that the same level of discernment must always be applied evenly. This decision shows a basic lack of caring for the sheep he was entrusted with. MacArthur knows better than most that he is a shepherd and the last thing a shepherd should do is bring harm to his sheep. That Mac does not see it this way is irrelevant. He is mistaken. Last weekend he crammed 7000 maskless congregants into jammed spaces, practically begging for a super-spreader event. Hyperbole? Ask the one Ohio man who infected 91 people by simply attending church when he was not aware he had COVID. It is time for the church to stop being the stupid people. It is time for the church to start caring about people again. The story at the above link is from a secular source. I am just examining the comments attributed to MacArthur. Let us reason once more.

"People started slowly coming back, and they just kept coming until there were six or seven thousand." - John MacArthur

Mind you the state order limited gatherings to no more than 100. You can disagree. You can petition the state. What you cannot do is decide on your own to violate Romans 13 because you do not like the order. It is petulant and unbiblical. It is also reckless and dangerous. Now MacArthur had originally abided by the order but seemingly ran out of patience. If you look at the pictures from last weekend at his church, you will see people cramped into the space, thousands of worshippers, with barely any wearing masks. How many will catch the virus is still left to be determined. How many John MacArthur allowed to die will soon follow.

"MacArthur explained to CNN that he viewed the restrictions set forth by the Gov. Gavin Newsom 'not constitutional,' 'burdensome' and declared they make 'no sense' in light of the actual numbers of death numbers his congregation has experienced." - John MacArthur

Seriously? The state banned gatherings and you complied, resulting in decreased fatalities within your congregation and then you use the fact that you have these decreased fatalities as a rationale for not listening to the state guidance? That is comically juvenile thinking. While we are on the subject - how many deaths are permissible John? How many of the sheep God entrusted to you are ok to die in God's eyes so you can hold church meetings again? Burdensome? Perhaps if you watched a loved one or one of your sheep draw their last breath on a ventilator you might have a better appreciation of the word burdensome. The fact that your opinion is that the restrictions are unconstitutional has no merit. You are a pastor, not as constitutional law professor. The way the country works is you challenge constitutionality in the courts and they decide. During the interim period, you do not get to be disobedient just because you have an opinion. No wonder the church is mocked and ridiculed.

'We don't orchestrate this, this is a church. We don't ask people to make a reservation to come to church,' he said. MacArthur said Grace Community Church, a non-denominational evangelical church built in 1956, originally tried to get creative with the growing crowd size for services.

They used a tents as overflow areas in the parking lot and placed a screen in the middle of the back patio, but MacArthur insisted both were overwhelmed by eager worshipers. MacArthur said he allowed thousands of Californians to come inside the church so they weren't 'standing outside in a mob.' - John MacArthur

No, but YOU decided to open the church! That is why they showed up! No one is arguing that people want to go to church. I want to go to church. You are supposed to be a pastor! Lead the flock and stop making infantile excuses. The fact that so many showed up only increases the blood on your hands. Either way, stop acting like this was some kind of spontaneous event. You planned it. You orchestrated it. You will answer for it.

'We opened the doors because that's what we are,' he said. 'We're a church and we're going to trust those people to make adult decisions about the reality of their physical and spiritual health and how that balance works for each one of them. 'Nobody's forcing anything, they're here because they want to be here.' - John MacArthur

No John, you are not. If you ran a church you would start by obeying the word of God. You certainly would not stoop so low as to now blame the sheep for where the shepherd has led them. That is what you are doing here. No one forced them? Is that the only defense you have left? They look to you for guidance. They look to you for wisdom. You opened the church and they followed. Stop blaming the sheep for following their shepherd!

"In an interview on The Eric Mextaxes Radio Show, MacArthur said in July that 'essence of worship is being together' and his congregation 'didn't buy the narrative that they were threatening somebody's life if they went to church.'" - John MacArthur

Why are you doing a radio show with such a raging NAR dominionist John? Eric Mextaxes? Really? Putting that curiosity aside, where in the bible do you see that being together is the essence of worship? I expect something that gnostic to be uttered by Bill Johnson. God is the essence of worship and you know that. God is also everywhere. There is no reason we cannot worship in our homes or even virtually with each other. Of course corporate worship is always better and preferred but if by foregoing it now saves lives don't you think God would agree? As for your congregation not believing they would be threatening someone's life by going to church I simply refer you to the news! This is not a point for debate! It has been established! Multiple times! One man went to church with COVID and infected 91 other people! The Virginia pastor who mocked the virus from the pulpit and died a month later from it! The Illinois church that saw 43 contract the virus at a service in March. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but not their own facts.

'I'm not convinced that what's being propagated is actually reality,' he told CNN. 'Neither are they. That's why they're here. I don't know of anybody in the church - and it's a large church - who's sick at this time. We haven't had anybody in our church in the hospital with it through all these months.' - John MacArthur

Because you had been obeying the rules! So you think that was being reported is false? Los Angeles continues to lead the state in coronavirus cases with 211,542 infections and 509 deaths. Is that false? How false? Cut the numbers in half. Are 250 deaths permissible to God so long as John MacArthur can hold court again? This is part of the problem in the country as a whole. People with no medical or epidemiological training whatsoever are deciding they know better than experts in the field. Perhaps when his sheep start dying Mac might be convinced.

"What makes MacArthur's refusal to abide public health guidelines so noticeable is his status as a popular and well-respected evangelical pastor. Most of the pastors who've made national headlines for ignoring state orders were from small towns or small congregations. Many of them have argued the lockdown restrictions infringed on their religious and spiritual rights. But not all pastors and congregations feel the same way as MacArthur about the restrictions. JD Greear, president of the Southern Baptist Conventions, suggested congregations create smaller house churches instead of packed services. Andy Stanley said his megachurch in Atlanta, Georgia, would not reopen until 2021 because of the pandemic. MacArthur questioned if those pastors were leading their congregations correctly. 'They don't know what a church is and they don't shepherd their people,' he told CNN." - John MacArthur

This takes us back to the beginning. John MacArthur has now made his bed with Rodney Howard Browne. All of the NAR dominionists now love Mac, including doing interviews with their leading mouthpieces. This should be a source of great discomfort for him but it does not appear so. He has lamented lately that his friends have abandoned him over this issue. His friends are right. Now I agree about Greear and Stanley but the notion that John MacArthur is going to lecture someone on being a true shepherd is not beyond untenable. The notion that he is going to lecture someone on what the true church is a dog that no longer hunts. He has given away any credibility he once had in those areas. A shepherd does not lead his sheep to slaughter based upon whims, feelings, and opinions.

"Others Christians have noted that spirituality and church are more than just services held every Sunday. 'It's true that MacArthur's church cannot meet, but Christ's church can meet,' wrote Jonathan Leeman, a pastor and editorial director of the ministry 9Marks. 'Right now, members of his church can meet outdoors. There is nothing sacrosanct about the particular and present forms of our congregations,' Leeman added. President of Davenant Institute Brad Littlejohn published a rebuttal to MacArthur's decision in a 7,500-word letter this month. 'Rev. MacArthur no doubt believes he is taking a courageous stand,' wrote Littlejohn. 'I fear that he is rather a confused shepherd, leading countless sheep straight into the line of fire.'" - John MacArthur

Amen, Christ's church is not the building MacArthur calls home. That is so purpose driven in its thinking that Mac should have known better. You are the church. I am the church. Together we are the church. That does not change if the medium in which we communicate is through a computer, over a smart phone or in person. I agree with Littlejohn here. I do not doubt the sincerity of John MacArthur but as my pastor is fond of saying we can be sincere and sincerely wrong. Take a good look at the picture from his church last week where he joked about being a peaceful protest. All of those people have lives. They have futures. They have families. Unfortunately, they had a selfish pastor who led them right into the woodchipper known as COVID. Maybe the numbers are wrong. Or course, maybe they are underreported since we do so little testing per capita. All the speculation is irrelevant. Unless you are wearing a tinfoil hat figuring out how they faked the moon landing, you must admit this virus exists and it kills people. Full stop. The rest is window dressing. It is conjecture engaged upon by Facebook addicts following the whims of memes created by 13 year olds. It is like a real pastor leading his sheep off a cliff and when asked why he responds that he believes the cliff is not as steep as it has been reported. That the fatalities are embellished by a sensationalistic media and government officials that don't like the church. That the constitution allows us as free-thinking freedom lovers to go wherever we want!! Does any of that matter?

The cliff is still there and John MacArthur is leading his sheep right over it.

Reverend Anthony Wade - August 14, 2020

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.