My Observations of The Church During COVID-19

Here we are 2-3 months into the shutdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic and depending on where you are living could determine the stage of lockdown you’re experiencing as some states is the USA have started to ease restrictions. Now is maybe a good time to start looking back and evaluating some things. One of those things for is to see how The Church has handled and weathered the crises. Obviously the church is in no danger of disappearing as we’re promised, “…the gates of Hades will not overcome it.(Matt 16:18)” But if we look through the last few months what has your church been doing? Or maybe more specifically what have the people of your church been doing?

Not that it will be a revolutionary thought to many but it has been my observation for quite some time now that the North American church is almost completely a consumer-driven entity. The vast majority of people who show up on Sunday morning come to be fed and not for much more. My purpose here isn’t to lay the blame at anyone’s feet as I would just say we’ve all likely played a part in getting us here.

All that being said, here’s what I’m seeing right now. I see people that have no idea what to do without a building to meet in and church staff in which to be given direction. A verse I’ve read a number of times recently in Hebrews chapter 5,

“11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”

This just seemed so timely to me. So many of us have been in church long enough that we should be able to teach biblical principles and the story of Jesus’ love and salvation but we are so accustomed to having someone teach us, “the elementary truths of God’s word,” over and over again with no expectation that we should know it and go teach it to others. Of course this is nothing new for God’s people. We see time and again in the Old Testament where the Nation of Israel was continually in need for God to send someone to lead them

Most of what I see right now is geared towards the anticipation of when we will be able to meet together again. Don’t get me wrong it is important that we emphasize meeting together and I too am hopeful we will be able to soon but in the mean time we should be seeking God and looking for ways to show God’s love to our neighbors. This is a great time to be able to say, “Yes, I am scared too and unsure about wha the future will look like but I have a hope that rises above that fear of the unknown. God is still sovereign.

I believe one of the best ways to get people get more comfortable serving others and sharing the gospel is to have them go on a short term journey and spend time with missionaries in other places. It is a great opportunity to have people spend time learning and practice living out their faith and sharing it with others. If you would like help mobilizing people to GO Here2There can help. Email us at [email protected] for more information.

Bryan Nicholson – Media & Marketing Lead

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