FACE MASKS AND THE BIBLE

Dear Friends,

I recently bumped into a friend that I had not seen since early March of 2020. I was working in one of my favorite coffee shops, and my friend entered, saw me, and came straight to me. As he approached, he opened up his arms, and in defiance of social distancing rules, beckoned me up for a hug. I got up, and we hugged. We chatted for a few minutes, and as he left, he pointed at his face mask and said, "This is not right. I look forward to the day when they are gone."

This particular friend is a man who is not a Christian, and has in the past often asked me questions about the Christian faith. Does the Bible have anything to say about face masks? Should Christians be content to wear them for months and maybe even for years to come? If he had asked me a question about Christians and masks, what could I have said? Here are a couple of thoughts.

First. Resist the urge to answer in secular terms, regardless of whether you are more supportive or less supportive of wearing masks on an ongoing basis. In other words, do not miss out on an opportunity to think and talk as a Christian. Whether you answer the person by talking about loving your neighbour or answering in terms of religious freedom, in both cases your non-Christian friend will hear you talking as one more person expressing their secular political and cultural preferences. Pray that Christians can think biblically. Pray that you and I can think biblically.

Second. In the Bible, the face plays a unique and irreplaceable role in knowing and being known by another person. Most Canadians do not realize how much their supposedly secular or "natural" reasoning has in fact emerged out of the biblical worldview. It is from the Bible that we see the importance of the face. To be told that you will one day be with God back to back, or leg to leg, or toe to toe, is to be told something radically different than being told you will meet Him face to face. Even though you know that the Triune God does not literally have a face, yet when the Bible wants you to understand the truth of how you can know Him and be known by Him, it uses the analogy of seeing Him face-to-face. "For now we see only as a reflection in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." 1 Cor. 13:12 NIV. When your secular neighbour senses that having an uncovered face is generally a good thing, they are talking as if the Bible is true.

Third. Before the Fall, the Triune God created you to be fully open and transparent to Him and to people. The Bible's account of the significance of the face in knowing and being known is thick and deep and high. Face to face language applies to God as it does to other people. It is rooted in creation, not erased by the Fall, and is essential to your final end, your "telos," what you were made for. In the first three chapters of Genesis you get the key account of what human beings are, and what God created us for. In Genesis 3, you see that humans were made to walk with the Lord in the garden in the cool of the day; that we were to be naked before each other and before Him. In other words, we were made to be open and transparent - unveiled - to Him as we communed with Him. In the Fall, we became horrified that we were naked, and desired to hide from Him. But the Lord called out to Adam and Eve. While He provided the covering for their bodies - an image and "type" of the need to be clothed with the righteousness of Christ - He did not veil their faces. He could have, for then the external veiling of the face would fit with the inner veiling you maintain to keep Him out of your life. (see 2 Cor. 4:1-6) But just as His clothing Adam and Eve was a promise of the day when you could be clothed with Christ's righteousness, their faces remained unveiled as a clue to God's desire to know them and be known by them - to know you and be known by you.

Fourth. He redeems you to be face to face with Him. One of the most beautiful images of salvation involves the face. "We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil covers their heart. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His image with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." 2 Cor. 3:13-18.

Fifth. In the new Heaven and earth, the redeemed will see Him face to face. Augustine famously wrote, "You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in You." In creation, human beings were meant to be face to face with the Triune God. You are redeemed to be face to face with Him. And you are incomplete and unfinished until that day when you see him, unveiled, face to face. In the final chapter of the Bible, Revelation 22, it says, "Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants will serve Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads." (vs.1-4, NIV) In a sense you can say, "You have made us for Yourself, to see You face to face, O Lord, and our heart is restless until we rest in seeing You face to face."

Sixth. The Lord is calling His people to rigorously and wisely seek and speak the truth about masks. There are obviously times when it is wise for you to wear a mask. It is a good thing for the fireman going into the burning house to rescue someone. It is good for the surgical team to be properly masked during surgery. But masks are like medicine, not food. You need medicine when you are sick, but you need food to live. As Christians, we should always seek the truth. Not only the biblical truth about the importance of seeing each other's face to thrive, but also the scientific truths about illness and its treatment. We should, and did, give politicians, government bureaucrats, and public health officials the benefit of the doubt, that in the face of a sudden virus which seemed to overwhelm hospitals in some locations, wearing masks in certain contexts was wise public health policy. However, from the start, politics was present with the science. To move forward, Christians with the relevant scientific expertise should reject the politics, and lead the way in a rigorous scientific analysis of such things as how COVID19 spreads, whether masks are in fact helpful, medical treatment for those suffering from the virus, and healthy vaccination against the virus. It is part of the way that we can love the city, and care for the sick and suffering.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, pray for the day we can see each other again, face to face, lifting Jesus high in Ottawa, and to the ends of the earth.


George+