COVID-Denying Pastor: Sin is “100% Fatal” and Therefore Deadlier Than the Virus

Pastor Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in California has denied the seriousness of COVID since the beginning. In May, he argued that two months of abiding by lockdown orders was enough and churches should go back to meeting in person despite the threat of the virus. In August, he wore a combat helmet to make the case that Christians were under attack. In September, he hosted an in-person baptism for over 1,000 people.

And even today, as the COVID death count tops 255,000, Hibbs is downplaying the seriousness of COVID.

During a sermon over the weekend, Hibbs told a story of going to a wedding and mocking a woman who asked why he wasn’t wearing a mask… before saying sin was far more dangerous to our health than any virus.

… I was talking to the father of the bride, and we’re hugging — we’ve known each other forever — we’re hugging and talking and carrying on. And this woman comes up and she goes, “Where is your mask? The two of you, where’s your mask?” And he jumps right out of the gate and he said, “I’m good, lady, I’ve already had it. I can’t get it and I can’t give it away. I’ve had it.”

And she starts arguing with him: “You don’t know that, and what about you?” And I looked at her and she was… she was older than me. And… she said, “You want a mask?” And I said, “No, I don’t want a mask. I’m good.” And her husband walks up, and he says, “Gentleman, is she bothering you?”

And it was tremendous because he said, “Listen, she’s wearing her mask. If the mask works, she’s fine.” That old man said that. “If she’s wearing her mask, if the mask works, she’s fine.” Now, if the mask works, she’s fine! You hear where I’m going with this? What is said out in the world around us may or may not be true. But what to God… could you imagine if that woman would have walked up to us and said, “Both of you, are you sleeping with your own wives? Are you doing drugs? Are you cheating on your income tax? Do you speed? You better get your act together! You know what I’m saying? Wouldn’t it be great if we had a tear of sin like that?

“Put on your mask”? How about this? “Put on Christ! Put on Jesus! Put them on! Put them on!”

Everybody’s worried about something that — listen — 99.96% you’re going to recover from. Not sin. It’s 100% fatal. Sin will kill you.

This pastor’s negligence will get people killed.

First of all, why the hell is he going to a wedding? Why is the woman with a mask going to a wedding? They’re both idiots.

Also, we don’t know for sure if people who have recovered from COVID are forever immune to it. So walking around without a mask just because you’ve personally caught COVID and survived is still horribly ignorant.

And obviously, sin, unlike COVID, isn’t contagious. Even if you’re delusional enough to think committing a sin will result in eternal punishment, it’s no excuse to ignore a very real virus that has killed more than a quarter-million Americans so far. While many people have survived it, they’re now taking up hospital beds that more sick people won’t be able to access, which means more people will die.

Hibbs’ entire philosophy here is that if he’s less vulnerable to the virus, everyone else can suffer. He refuses to be temporarily inconvenienced if it means saving strangers’ lives. He doesn’t care because his selfish Christian faith teaches him that he never has to consider the needs of other people.

It’s bad enough he’s holding indoor, in-person, mask-optional church services. But he’s actively mocking people who have the good sense to take precautions during a pandemic. If this is what Christianity is teaching, no decent person should want to be a part of his tribe.

(via Christian Nightmares)