Summary: Meeting with other Christians is scripturally directed by God. Using technology to meet is still obeying God.
Discussion: God’s principles govern a Christian’s life. If man’s law is in opposition to God’s scriptures, we must obey God. Meeting with fellow believers is directed by God. Hebrews 10:24-25 (RSV), “let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
Do these scriptures tell us how to meet together? Do they teach we must be physically close and not wear masks? No.
Today, we can meet together using technology. We have phones, online Church services, socially distanced but still face to face Church Bible studies. We are not isolated. We can still encourage one another without direct, close physical contact. So, we are still obeying Hebrews 10:24-25.
Restricted fellowship, even isolation need not inhibit our growth in Christ. The Apostle Paul spent two years in a prison in Caesarea (Acts 24:27). In Rome, he was imprisoned in a hired house (where he could receive visitors) for another two years (Acts 28:30). Finally, Paul spent his last 1 1/2 years in a jail cell in Rome where he was finally beheaded. During these three imprisonments, he wrote Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, and 2 Timothy.
Christians do need each other. That is a Biblical principle. (See 1 Corinthians 12:12-27.) But we can still obey God and fellowship and study together using technology and obey the current laws of social distancing.
