Ungodly act by worshippers

THE EDITOR, Madam:

The actions of the worshippers at the City of Refuge Endtime Prophetic Ministries in St Ann, who defied COVID-19 rules, were not only unlawful, but ungodly. Upon being confronted by the police and health officials, who approached them with the utmost courtesy and professionalism, the worshippers reportedly verbally abused them. The news report seemed to show that the lead apostle held off police for a protracted period, while she and her congregants hurled religion-coated insults at them; invoking the name of God and the Holy Ghost, as if God was complicit or in agreement with their act of rebellion and lawlessness.

Their collective behaviour was the antithesis of true Christian values. Romans 13: 1-2 says, “Be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinances of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.”

I can imagine the church leadership hammering Romans 13 into the minds of the congregation to keep them in line and to control their every move. But when it came to the Apostle and her leaders submitting to governmental authorities, they didn’t believe the rule applied to them.

God is a God of order and calls on Christians to respect the law, and he does not condone spiritual abuse; which is what the leadership at City of Refuge was doing to the police and their congregants. None of these leaders showed any care for the members of the congregation, exposing them to a dangerous virus.

No one is perfect, and even Christians can make mistakes. But incidents such as these do not set a good example, and therefore help to hasten the demise of Christians’ moral authority in society. Christians will be challenged to speak into the issues in society to bring about positive change, because some of us are indistinguishable in our behaviour from those who break the law with impunity.

In Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, part of which is referred to as the Beatitudes, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”

As a Christian, I am all for dealing with persecution for righteousness sake. But persecution for foolishness – that’s a whole other matter.

AMIYAH PRUDENCE

Kingston