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So there we were again yesterday, sitting on our couches, Penny and our little fruit, watching as our church’s team tried once again to put forth a live sermon on YouTube and get all fancy while everyone at home wondered whether to stand to sing or to stay seated. It has been surreal to be part of a church in the time of COVID-19.
At one point during the message, the pastor stated that some have worried that if they went online with sermons that people may not return when we’re allowed to leave their houses again, and he thought this was quite funny, but I can understand this concern.
During this time I’ve read of churches concerned because they view attending church as part of what they must do to gain God’s favor. I’ve heard of others not having services to make sure that people come back. Many are figuring out live streaming for the first time and connecting in other ways:
- Business meetings by cars showing up in the parking lot and voting
- Remote Communion?
- Calls instead of in person visitation
How does this impact the body of Christ? This isn’t the first time that Christians had to gather by families and, in fact, the Bible talks about families as being the place where Christian living and learning is to thrive! Husbands are to teach their wives things they don’t understand (1 Corinthians 14:35) and Fathers were to teach their children about God all during the day (Deuteronomy 6:7). Christianity was supposed to be the way we lived, not what we did on a Sunday morning.
What I’ve learned about churches during this pandemic is that many of them believe that they are Christianity, and that they are indispensable. And I can believe it is quite the mental issue for many Pastors that they are now preaching to practically empty churches where they were used to preaching to many more, because even if they know that it’s not the number of people there, it’s still human to like the validation of people coming week after week to hear you preach the Word.
Let’s keep grounded in God’s Word and realize the church’s rightful place. Let’s redouble our efforts at family and private devotions and work to make our homes places where we learn and grow. Let’s fellowship with our churches, but realize that we live out our Christianity daily.
