Today I welcome a new special correspondent who, because of the sensitive nature of the work, wishes to remain anonymous. This Blog is not a platform for arguments, it is meant to encourage readers to look into matters affecting their lives here on earth, and the life to come from a Biblical perspective.

I remain, valued reader, your obedient servant,

Gibber! Gibber!

Chugley

The Thinking Chimp

From a special underground agent

Partiality is the sin of showing favouritism to one person/s over another. It is something scripture warns us against, and something that shouldn’t exist in the church, but history shows us otherwise.

Paul warns us in 1 Timothy 5:21 – I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality.

We know that in matters of judgement and salvation, God shows no partiality to those who believe. Whether we are Jew or Greek, whether we were once a murderer, a fornicator, or just a liar, we are all equally redeemed by the blood of the lamb, we are one in Christ. 

In Acts 10:34 and in Romans 2:9>11, we read that “God shows no partiality”.

In Proverbs 24:23 we are warned “It is not good to show partiality in judgement”

God clearly wants believers to treat each other equally. 

In the early church (Acts 6) there was a dispute over the Jewish widows being treated better than the Greek widows. So, men of good reputation were appointed to ensure that things were done orderly and in fairness, ensuring all the widows were treated as equals.  

If we read through Church history, we are reminded that it has some horrible stories as well:

• Antisemitism was brought about from Christian doctrines portraying Jews as collectively responsible for Jesus’s death, leading to the death of many jews at the hands of Christians. Even famous theologians like Luther have had some odd things to say on this subject.
• Slavery – the catholic church once allowed people to have non-Christian and largely African slaves as part of its crusade against pagans.
• Slavery – for a period of time some groups of Christians were using the bible to justify slavery and in doing so forced segregation in churches based on skin colour.
• Favouritism – in older times (or even today), Churches have had a habit of favouring the wealthy and allowing them special privileges, such as exclusive access to the front row seats in Church, or influencing what is or isn’t talked about from the pulpit.

Whilst Gods word and also many dedicated Christians have spoken out against all the things listed above, we cannot deny, that from time to time, Christians have been fooled into going along with practices that clearly show partiality, practices that divide the body of Christ and hurt other Christians.

So where are we going with this? Does the Church still fall into this trap? Has the modern Church been guilty of partiality?

In the year 2020, we did see the Church slip, and it slipped very easily back into the same trap, it drew division lines 6 years ago that still linger with us today. Around the world panic and fear set in over a new virus. God’s word tells us, “Do not fear”, but we did. The governments around the world told us to fear, and we followed. They came up with lots of ideas to “protect” us all. Social distancing, masks, vaccines, vaccine passports.

But as many of us now know, the biggest dividing line was the vaccine itself. Not just outside the church, but inside it as well. Those who said no were not just shunned by society, but by many in the Church as well.

To be clear, many Christians boldly spoke against the risk of division, and they stood against the partiality the world was showing. But the vast majority sat silent, they went along with it all. Many Christians found themselves excluded from social gatherings, from work, from friends and from family. Some even started to find these same rules extending into church services and bible studies.

I know a man who had loyally served in his Church for decades, in a largely unseen role. During the peak of the lockdowns, this man lost his full-time job, which he had held for decades. Then, his wife lost her job, his daughters lost their jobs, and his son tried taking his own life.  At the lowest point of this mans 50+ year life, the one place he should have been able to turn is the Church, but even they showed him partiality. In that same year, the church had a leaders Christmas dinner, but he and his wife were not permitted to attend, because they weren’t vaccinated. What a horrible place for the Church to fall to, showing partiality to a Christian man of good reputation who was at the lowest point of his life.

Many Christians were comfortable to take part in the global experiment in what has now proved for many to have been a bad decision. The number of heart issues and cancers around the world have exploded in all age groups since the vaccines were rolled out, and whilst many still want to downplay any links between the two, there is now overwhelming and clear evidence to link the two.

To be clear, I am not condemning anyone who chose to participate in this worldwide experiment, the fear was real, and people can be irrational when they fear.  What I do want to do is draw attention to the fact, that what appeared to be the right choice to so many Christians in 2020, has proven in 2026 to be otherwise. For the many Christians who did not participate in the experiment, and were actively excluded from many aspects of society, the people who lost their jobs and were verbally abused by family members and friends, the one place they should have always felt safe is in the Church, and so many did not.

I think it is time for the Church globally to apologise. Whilst I personally forgive and forget, and so do many others I know, a simple sorry still goes a long way.

I know personally that many in society and in the church still carry much hurt, and unless the leaders in the Church are willing to recognise the hurt, they caused, the mistakes they made, then history may just repeat itself, and the Church will slip back into the sin of partiality.

The Church is called to lead, and if we lead with a genuine sorry, society will recognise it.

In finishing, I have included an article from a local church bulletin passed around a small city in Australia in 2021. The pastor of this Church compares the unvaccinated to paedophiles and hermits. For the sake of privacy, I have excluded the church name and the pastor’s name. The point of sharing this bulletin is not to focus on an individual pastor or church, but to learn from the past. The record of this letter serves as a strong example of how partiality crept into the church during the COVID era of 2020, and how we, the Church, must always be on guard, to protect God’s people from allowing it to happen again. 

Psalm 118:6 The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?

26^th September 2021

Message from our Pastor

It’s probably not a big deal at the moment but when we reach a 70-80% vaccination rate, it appears that there will be some people who will be allowed to do certain things, and there will be others who won’t. The only difference between the two are one group will be vaccinated and the other won’t be. As a church, how are we to think of this? Will we allow unvaccinated people to attend church? My thoughts on this are:

Firstly, at some point, the unvaccinated won’t be able to do a whole lot of things. They won’t be allowed to work, they won’t be allowed to shop, and they possibly won’t be allowed to participate in sport. In other words, unless they are hermits who grow their own food, are self-employed, and entertain themselves by whittling twigs, most people won’t have the luxury of being unvaccinated. So, it may not be a problem at all. Unless a hermit decides to attend xxxx Baptist Church that is.

Secondly, while people are free to be unvaccinated, it is a well-known fact that your freedom ends where mine begins. Now this isn’t a biblical principle, but generally speaking if you want to uphold your right to be I unvaccinated, do I have the equal right not to associate with you because you are now endangering my health? So, if there are unvaccinated people who insist on coming to church, then we will have to warn those who cannot be vaccinated (for legitimate health reasons), and they might not want to come to church. Now there are some who might say, “Well that’s their problem. They should just trust in God to protect them.” I think that is a serious misunderstanding of what God’s protection is all about. We do not allow paedophiles to engage in children’s ministry not because we don’t trust in God to protect children. The fact is, we want to protect our vulnerable, and that is why we don’t permit paedophiles to engage in children’s ministry. In the same way, we want to extend that same protection to those who are physically vulnerable who cannot be vaccinated.

Thirdly, if you think that your right to attend church unvaccinated is more important than addressing the concerns of the vulnerable (those who cannot be vaccinated for legitimate health reasons) who would like to attend church, please do spend time thinking about it. Because it looks awfully like a “my rights are more important than your rights” statement. And that would be sad.