Should a Christian Wear a Mask?

"I like my mask better than yours," Elliot told his sister, Victoria.  "It has tractors on it!"

"Yours is ugly!"  Victoria said in a definitive voice. 

Elaine made masks for our children, although at this point, since they haven't really gone anywhere, they haven't really had any reason to wear them.

It seems as though this week, the subject of masks is the hot topic.  The idea that businesses might ask their customers to wear them somehow seems unamerican.

The whole point of masks is not to prevent the wearer from catching COVID -- for that you would need a fit tested N-95 mask.  The idea is to reduce the viral shedding of asymptomatic carriers of Coronarvirus and prevent them from being Typhoid Marys within their communities.

Many are stating pretty firmly that this infringes on their rights and that their liberties are being stolen away.  I read this and I can understand this perspective, however, a different question keeps coming to me.  "What should my response as a Christian be to such a request?"

As I thought about this, my mind was drawn to I Corinthians chapter 8.  At first glance, this has nothing to do with wearing masks in a Corona-Crisis.  It speaks only to the question of whether the Corinthian Christians should eat meat offered to idols.

The Apostle Paul explains carefully that he doesn't think it is that big a deal.  He doesn't think that these idols are really gods at all.  His conscience is not bothered by eating this meat.  He feels liberty to eat whatever he wants -- regardless of what happened to it before it was set before him.

All well and good and probably where most American Christians would come down on the subject -- in favor of individual liberty.  The only thing is that Paul doesn't stop there.  He has realized that life isn't only about him, it is also about his weaker brother.  Verses 11 and 13 say, "So by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died... Therefore, if food makes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat lest I make my brother stumble."

The Apostle Paul did not only think about his rights, his conscience, and his liberty.  He had to think about his weaker brother and his weakness.

This feels like the Christian response.  I need to look at the needs of the weakest in my community and make certain that they are met, even if I forego some of my rights as a result.

If my Savior was able to bend down one evening and wash the dirty feet of His disciples, surely I can wear a mask the next time I visit a big box store.

Not for myself, but for the sake of my brothers and sisters...