Church looks different during a global pandemic. Some things have stayed stable and unmoving, though. The word of God and prayer have not changed. God’s word is still a lamp to our feet, a light to our path, and prayer is still how we commune with the living God.
But not everything is the same. With weekly programs cancelled and Sunday morning services cancelled, we are reminded that the church is the people of God, wherever they are, not the building that they meet in on Sunday mornings. What does it look like for the church to function during a crisis like this? How do we walk together when we cannot physically be together?
Connect
Is it possible that this crisis is pushing us outside of our comfortable Sunday morning Christianity into the messiness of real life and real community? Our life together as a body no longer revolves around Sunday mornings and weekly programs and events.
Life together now requires a greater intentionality than it ever has before. Our unity depends on phone calls, text messages, social media, and even letters. Connecting with one another during a crisis invites us into deep vulnerability as we share feelings that perhaps we have never felt before. May this be an opportunity for us to be open and transparent with one another, to be honest about what we are feeling, to lay aside ego and pride that we may share heartfelt words of encouragement with one another in ways that we never have before. Could this crisis be what drives us to share the words of affirmation and affection and love that we have held in? Could it be what drivers us deeper into dependence on one another instead of what rips us apart?
Even when gathering together is not safe, we need one another. We cannot get through this alone. Our sanctification still happens in the context of community. So, we continue to pray for creative ways to stay connected when physical connection is not an option.
Bear burdens
Some people are in the hospital alone, and others are at home, fearing for the lives of the loved ones that they cannot visit. Some people are with their immediate family while others are by themselves. Some people are connected to their community via technology, but others do not have internet access or a device to use to go online. Some parents are doing school with their children at home while other parents are praying that they don’t bring the virus home to their children when they get off work. Some people continue to work at home while others have already been laid off for a few weeks and try day after day to apply for unemployment. In light of these varied burdens caused by the same storm, how do we encourage one another? How do we share burdens?
There is no easy answer for those questions. We cannot fix all of the pain around us. We take every opportunity that we can to connect with people. We pray for creative ways to encourage our brothers and sisters, and plead that the Holy Spirit comfort and encourage those that we cannot reach, thanking God that social distance is no obstacle for the God that has already crossed the distance between heaven and earth.
Bearing someone else’s burden does not mean that you have to understand their pain, just that you have to understand that their pain is real, even if you do not understand it or have never experienced it yourself. Bearing burdens does not always require us to quote scripture or share theological truth. Often, an invitation to bear a burden is an invitation to listen, to allow your heart to be touched, and to pray that the Lord direct your steps.
Through this crisis, may our love for one another, which is motivated by Christ’s love for us, be a display of God’s glory and evidence that we follow Christ.
But not everything is the same. With weekly programs cancelled and Sunday morning services cancelled, we are reminded that the church is the people of God, wherever they are, not the building that they meet in on Sunday mornings. What does it look like for the church to function during a crisis like this? How do we walk together when we cannot physically be together?
Connect
Is it possible that this crisis is pushing us outside of our comfortable Sunday morning Christianity into the messiness of real life and real community? Our life together as a body no longer revolves around Sunday mornings and weekly programs and events.
Life together now requires a greater intentionality than it ever has before. Our unity depends on phone calls, text messages, social media, and even letters. Connecting with one another during a crisis invites us into deep vulnerability as we share feelings that perhaps we have never felt before. May this be an opportunity for us to be open and transparent with one another, to be honest about what we are feeling, to lay aside ego and pride that we may share heartfelt words of encouragement with one another in ways that we never have before. Could this crisis be what drives us to share the words of affirmation and affection and love that we have held in? Could it be what drivers us deeper into dependence on one another instead of what rips us apart?
Even when gathering together is not safe, we need one another. We cannot get through this alone. Our sanctification still happens in the context of community. So, we continue to pray for creative ways to stay connected when physical connection is not an option.
Bear burdens
Some people are in the hospital alone, and others are at home, fearing for the lives of the loved ones that they cannot visit. Some people are with their immediate family while others are by themselves. Some people are connected to their community via technology, but others do not have internet access or a device to use to go online. Some parents are doing school with their children at home while other parents are praying that they don’t bring the virus home to their children when they get off work. Some people continue to work at home while others have already been laid off for a few weeks and try day after day to apply for unemployment. In light of these varied burdens caused by the same storm, how do we encourage one another? How do we share burdens?
There is no easy answer for those questions. We cannot fix all of the pain around us. We take every opportunity that we can to connect with people. We pray for creative ways to encourage our brothers and sisters, and plead that the Holy Spirit comfort and encourage those that we cannot reach, thanking God that social distance is no obstacle for the God that has already crossed the distance between heaven and earth.
Bearing someone else’s burden does not mean that you have to understand their pain, just that you have to understand that their pain is real, even if you do not understand it or have never experienced it yourself. Bearing burdens does not always require us to quote scripture or share theological truth. Often, an invitation to bear a burden is an invitation to listen, to allow your heart to be touched, and to pray that the Lord direct your steps.
Through this crisis, may our love for one another, which is motivated by Christ’s love for us, be a display of God’s glory and evidence that we follow Christ.
By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
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