Let's be thankful —we're still free to share the gospel in America

With all the confusion over religious liberty versus control of the pandemic, many churches are in a quandary.

One church in London scheduled a baptism service against the city regulations. After about 20 people came inside, police appeared at the door, blocking more from entering. Such incidents are common in totalitarian countries such as China, Russia and many Muslim areas.

U.S. pastors have not had to face resistance this stiff because of our unique constitution that protects these kinds of gatherings. But recent developments in America show we may have gotten closer than we think to having that freedom severely limited.

The US Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled 5-4 to block New York Governor Andrew Cuomo from reimposing strict attendance caps at worship services. The state wanted to limit attendance in houses of worship to 25% of their capacity or 10 people, whichever is fewer. These same rules did not apply to other non-religious businesses, like liquor stores and bike shops.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, who voted to block Governor Cuomo, said:

“It is time — past time — to make plain that, while the pandemic poses many grave challenges, there is no world in which the Constitution tolerates color-coded executive edicts that reopen liquor stores and bike shops but shutter churches, synagogues, and mosques.”

Bold pastors have been challenging government lockdowns and others are strategizing ways to minister within the government guidelines. In the past, gospel tracts have been useful, seeded inside the bulletins of special Christmas services to send the gospel home with each family. Such gatherings have been severely limited in some states because of their strict health laws on large gatherings, but we hope this will now start to change nationwide.

Another US Supreme Court justice, Samuel Alito, said in a recent address to the Federalist Society that he is worried that after the pandemic, religious liberty is in danger of becoming a second-class right. He said that there was no justification for treating casinos more favorably than houses of worship.

Alito continued to say that not only is freedom of belief increasingly under threat, but freedom of expression is as well:

"One of the great challenges for the Supreme Court going forward will be to protect freedom of speech. Although that freedom is falling out of favor in some circles..."

Soul winners and soul winning churches have a heavy responsibility now to stand in reproof against the evils rising in our culture. We must also school church members in the rising danger to our freedom and ways to stand against it in righteousness.

Many churches have found innovative ways to saturate their communities with the gospel. Tract users in many areas report that even with the pandemic, tracts are often readily accepted by people. During times of trouble, people are more likely to turn to God.

No-nonsense gospel tracts laced with scripture have been used since the invention of the printing press to enable believers to carry out the Great Commission.