Recently, I was asked to be on Bill Martinez Live, a nationally-syndicated radio show, and had the opportunity to speak with Bill about how COVID-19 has affected our church gatherings, as well as other topics in the news. It was a really engaging interview, and I thought I would take this opportunity to share some of the highlights.
Bill Martinez
Pastor Robert Singleton is with us. He’s renowned in the religious community. He is a pastor for thousands, and he understands and respects the importance of keeping everyone safe during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. He joins us now to discuss the future of religion. Rob, welcome to the show. Good to have you with us.
Rob Singleton
It’s great to be here. Thanks.
Bill Martinez
Well, certainly, the church has been interrupted, in a great way. And there is a lot of concern here. I mean, it’s the First Amendment right of freedom of religion. The President reinforced this last week, even walking over to St. John’s Church, to reinforce that churches will not be restricted. But we just went through this, and I’ve got to tell you, that’s one thing I hear consistently, Rob, is that people are very disappointed in the church’s reaction. I mean, I know we need to render to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar, but also the things that belong to God too, right?
Rob Singleton
You’re exactly right. And I think this thing has moved from a pandemic to a “fear-demic.” And, you know, I’m one of those people who is disappointed in the church’s reaction. We were one of the churches here in Colorado that stayed open a little bit longer than most of the others. And, I think when you start realizing it’s more about optics and how something looks than it is about really helping people and caring, then, at least what I did, I went to the Word of God and really tried to find out. Because, to me, the situation seemed to hit a lot of areas. It wasn’t just one thing, but it was really dividing the nation; those who said, you know, let us get out there and get back to business and those who were scared and said, you know, if you get out there, you’re going to kill grandma and all that stuff. It’s just another dividing issue.
So I went to the Word of God, and He gave me three scriptures that helped me find a balance, and I’d love to share them with your audience, if that’s okay.
Bill Martinez
Yes, yes, please.
Rob Singleton
Well, one of them is in Romans 13. And that says that God puts authorities in place. And there’s no authority that’s in place that God is like, “Wow, I didn’t see that coming,” and, “Well, that’s not my guy.” I mean, he allows everything and causes many things. And so we need to respect those authorities, unless they tell us to do something that goes contrary to the Word of God, which I can talk about that too because I think there were a lot of things that started to go against the Word of God. So, Romans 13.
And then you take Hebrews 10. And Hebrews 10 says, “Let us not forsake gathering together as some are getting in the habit of doing,” so even way back then, the church got to the point where it got complacent, it got lazy, and that was an issue before the pandemic hit. The church was already—and people were already—not going to church like they used to and didn’t treat it like it was essential. And God said, don’t forsake that. He commands us to gather together.
And then the final scripture was Matthew 22. And that’s the Great Commandment. It says Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself.
And those are the three scriptures I’ve wrestled with. And, we felt like the only way to put all those things together was—and they weren’t asking us to do anything wrong—we went ahead and went into online mode. But then we’ve ramped up into a summit—that’s the name of our church, Summit Church—Summit Cares mode, and started feeding hundreds and giving out groceries and $100 gift cards for Walmart and taking care of people. Honestly, we were the hands and feet of Jesus and still are. And, as many churches have experienced, our reach [through our online services] has gone all over the world and has increased four- or five-fold. So just like God, He brought good out of something that’s bad.
So I think the real question now becomes, how are we going to emerge out of this? What’s it going to look like? What’s the new normal?
For the answers to those questions and more of my interview on Bill Martinez Live, check back in next week. I also want to extend a personal invitation to check out my new YouTube channel for relevant and timely videos, and participate in our online worship experiences at The Summit on Sundays at 9am & 11am Mountain time. (Of course, if you’re local or in town visiting, reserve your spot for one of our in-person worship experiences.)
Until next time, be blessed and be a blessing!
~Pastor Rob
aka, “P-Ro”