Scott Tibbs



Having the right attitude about wearing masks

By Scott Tibbs, June 22, 2020

I see a lot of resistance in my social media feed to wearing masks and much of it is disappointing. People who do not want to wear a mask indoors in public should find a better argument. Specifically, you need to find a better argument if your reasoning for not wearing a mask consists of "You can't tell me what to do! I do what I want!" Being stubborn is not a principled reason for disobeying a reasonable request.

If anything, that is a reason why you should be wearing a mask. We live in a time where we hate authority. The disrespect and contempt for our civic leaders, especially from Christians, has been a bad example in this pandemic. Romans 13 does not mean that we should blindly submit to every single thing those in authority demand of us, because there are times when we must respectfully say "no."

But that is the key: Respect. When President Trump posts on social media, we see a cascade of obscene reactions: F this, F that, F you, MF, and so forth. There is no respect for the dignity of the office. Sure. Trump inspires and thrives on this feedback with his own unprofessional, childish behavior, but that does not absolve us of responsibility to respect our leaders even if we disagree with them. The same applies to Nancy Pelosi, Andrew Cuomo and many others who are serving as civil magistrates at all levels of government.

Back to wearing a mask: Submitting to a reasonable request that you do not like is a way for you to humble yourself and respect those in authority over you. It is a way to suppress the rebellion in our hearts against those who God has placed in authority over us. If we want to be leaders, the first step to good leadership is respectful submission to lawful authority.

No one is telling you not to worship God or to endorse a sinful behavior. No one is denying your right to free speech, or taking away your Second Amendment rights or taking away your Fifth Amendment due process rights. They are making a request that will help mitigate the risk of spreading the novel coronavirus. If you have a strong argument to make against wearing a mask, fine. "I don't wanna!" is not that argument.



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