Churches have had to make a hard pivot and move in the direction of online services in the past few weeks, that is, if they were going to continue ministering to their congregations in worship. To those who complain about not being comfortable with the concept, I understand; it’s not been easy for me, either, but we somehow find a way to get done the things we really want to get done, and that holds true for both ministers and congregants.
Here in Kentucky, we have firm shelter-in-place orders, and with the exception of a few, churches seem to have adhered to that.
One positive I’ve seen for church-goers is that the crisis has helped to underscore the truth that the church is not the building, and members therefore don’t have to meet in one place in order to “do church.” This crisis has served as a not-so-subtle reminder to God’s people that living a Christian life is more than parking one’s body in a church building for an hour or so each week.
And, the faithful are finding that they can connect by the internet. As they go “live,” for instance on Facebook, and see others “joining,” they have a sense of togetherness that can bind hearts and minds as one.
Nonetheless, I deeply miss the togetherness that occurs when God’s people meet. After one of my friends sent me a text message showing the number who had joined one of our Facebook live services, I, like him, was grateful for the benefit of modern technology, but we both agreed it’s kind of like a ball game: it’s just better to be there.
Nonetheless, here is an opportunity for God’s people to show they care enough about others to put their spiritual need for face-to-face fellowship on hold for the greater good. After all, believers can still pray together, worship together, study God’s word together, encourage each other, even take communion together, all in obedience to the Scripture’s admonition to do those things regularly (Hebrews 10:24-25).
The risk we take in meeting together is enormous: we have to ask ourselves if our right to meet is worth putting the lives of others at risk, for if we continue meeting, we will inevitably endanger others, like health care workers and those we may randomly encounter.
Near my home town of Altus, Oklahoma, is Mangum, Oklahoma, which has, at the time of this writing, suffered 4 deaths and 32 confirmed cases of COVID-19, a large percentage for a county with an estimated population of 6,000. After the Oklahoma State Department of Health investigated the high numbers, they believed the source was an evangelist from Tulsa, who came to Mangum to preach at a congregation there on March 15, setting off a deadly chain of events, since he was unknowingly an asymptomatic carrier of Covid-19
“What I’m thinking is when he came and preached and went to this person’s home and had visitation with the pastor and everyone there and then visited the nursing home, that’s how the nursing home most likely got infected,” said Mangum Mayor, Mary Scott, according to the Lawton Constitution.
To be sure, the pastor, who himself later died of Covid-19, was unaware of his own infection when he was ministering in Mangum, a town of 3,000.
Now, barely a month later, we are more aware of this virus’ capabilities for transmission. We may have good intentions, but the coronavirus is no respecter of intentions, good or bad.
Should stay-in-place orders continue for very long, the danger always exists that some will grow weary, succumb to frustration, and begin to defy secular authorities’ recommendations for the good of the greater. And it only takes “some” to infect the “many.”
But church goers are by no means the only ones who are tempted to disregard the importance of social distancing and suspension of public gatherings. From family events to people joining for “necessary drinking,” the draw for close interaction is ever present.
The Christian community, however, has an opportunity to tap into its long and storied history of resilience to outside threats, a story that began with the earliest disciples, continued as public meetings went underground in the catacombs as early as the 2nd century, and continued as the faithful were tested in virtually every continent in every century since, positioning the church as the most capable institution to lead hurting and frightened people through the present crisis.