TD Jakes has criticised those who reject social distancing guidelines on the basis that their faith will protect them from contracting coronavirus.
The senior pastor at The Potter's House church in Texas, said that such beliefs were "dumb" and amounted to "foolishness."
"I believe in faith, I believe in God, I believe in the Bible, I believe in the word of God, but I also believe in common sense," he said during a Facebook Live broadcast on Sunday.
A number of US pastors have hit the headlines in recent weeks after refusing to stop meeting in-person on a Sunday, citing a violation of their First Amendment rights. One of them is Louisiana church leader, Pastor Tony Spell. Spell has repeatedly insisted that his congregation have nothing to fear in the virus, so long as their faith remains firmly in Jesus Christ. If they do get Covid-19, he said, the Lord will simply heal them by his Holy Spirit.
Jakes contested this view, warning fellow believers not to put God to the test: "When the Bible said Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days and Satan said, 'if though be the Son of God cast yourself off of this mountain for it is written that the angels will bear you up,' Jesus did not throw himself off the mountain just to see if angels would catch Him. That's not faith, that's foolishness.
"To put yourself in a situation where you disregard common sense, disregard it just to see if God has got you, please don't do that. I'm on here talking to you today because I'm concerned and I'm worried, and I love you and I'm scared for you. And I'm scared for all of us to the degree that I don't live in fear but I don't make dumb decisions either."
At 62-years-old, Bishop Jakes has been forced to totally self-isolate, noting that he hasn't seen his own children for several weeks now. Still, he insisted it was the right call.
"Not to hug my grandchildren, not to see my own children for the past six or seven weeks has not been fun," Jakes explained. "But If I make good decisions right now I get to see them for another 30 years or so. If I make good decisions right now I'll get to go outside and I'll get to go to the beach. And I'll get to go to my favourite restaurants."
"I know there are some of you that you have to get to work and you have things that you have to do, and you have to go to the store sometimes and you have to do all kinds of things. But when there's something that you have to do, please, please be very, very careful
.
"I've had members all around me who have contracted Covid-19. Even the young people took a terrible beating. It is a tough sickness. It is not like the flu for many people who contract it. We've lost people I knew. We've lost a lot of people I knew. We've lost a lot of preachers. We've lost a lot of entertainers, we've lost a lot of people."
