Do pastors love their church more than the state does?

In his new book Ruler of Kings, Rev. Dr Joe Boot explores what a truly Christian view of politics should – and could – look like.

During the height of the Covid pandemic, states around the world took on ’emergency powers’, introducing lockdowns and quarantines, and shutting down anything that was deemed ‘unessential’.

In this short video, he explains how, over lockdown, the state should not have had the authority to interfere with the life of the Church: “The Church has its obligation to the Lord Jesus Christ: ‘you shall lay hands on the sick’; ‘call for the elders of the church if you’re sick’; ‘administer the sacraments’ – it’s a means of grace. We have an obligation to preach the word of God, to be beside those and comfort those who are mourning … this is the essence of the life of the Church. So you don’t suspend the life of the Church because there are wars and diseases.”

Joe does state that churches themselves have an obligation to evaluate and assess the situation, however. But he asks: “do you think most pastors love their church more than the state loves their church? Do you think most parents love their children more than the Prime Minister loves their children? … What happened was that the State disregarded the family and the church as a form of government…”