The Reopening
Today is March 14th, 2021, the day that many BC churches will be reopening worship services in defiance of the public health order. Many members of these churches will not be attending in person, many will be. Many are happy about the decision, many are upset at the decision. It is 645am and I have still not decided if I will grab my mask, and go sit alone in a corner of the sanctuary and be present with my brothers and sisters in worship.
I am torn.
COVID19 has placed strains on the Church in BC like nothing we have seen in our lifetime. Like most in BC, my family has not been to a worship service in almost a year. I know of many others who also have isolated themselves and have not attended a worship service, nor visited with other believers in person during this time.
And it seems, many are discontent with the Church.
There is a restlessness, a murmuring.
Can you feel it?
As tensions grow, many become frustrated at our elders – especially when they appear to be angry in ill advised social media posts, when they deny the science, when there is the appearance of deception, when they disregard the health orders and open worship services in an act of civil disobedience. As we isolate, we listen to podcasts, we watch YouTube videos of eloquent preachers, we listen to the radio preachers, and we wonder – what’s the difference?
Why does it matter if I listen to my pastor preach this week or tune into another church?
We are not there in person anyway.
The Bible makes it clear that membership in a local body of believers is necessary. We are one body; the Bride of Christ. When we are separated from each other, this is not a good thing. Church membership is like a marriage, and a husband and wife should not be separated. Likewise, the Bible is clear that we are to not be separated as believers. A marriage is supposed to be unbreakable; church membership is supposed to be unbreakable. Aside from adultery (explicitly) and abuse and abandonment (implicitly) the Bible gives no legitimate reasons for breaking a marriage. I would argue that there also are very few legitimate reasons to break fellowship with a particular body of believers.
When a husband and wife say the words, “till death do us part,” it is a vow not to be taken lightly. Now, while membership in a local body of believers is not technically a marriage, the bible is clear that we should treat our membership vows like a marriage vow. What marriage has not gone through a rough patch? Is there a marriage where everyone makes perfect decisions, and everything is sunshine and roses all the time? When we are upset about a decision our spouse has made, do we fester in our anger and chat behind his or her back with our friends? Do we start looking for another partner? Or do we approach our spouse in love and seek reconciliation?
Imagine, if you are married, that you are torn apart by war. Or maybe you are involuntarily separated for another reason. For years on end, you cannot visit your spouse. You cannot have intimacy, you cannot go on date nights, you don’t talk, you don’t eat together, you don’t have someone to help in the day to day tasks, your bed is empty at night. Maybe you get to have a phone call once in a while. Imagine how tempting it would be to look elsewhere for intimacy, how tempting it would be to look at images on the internet in the absence of your spouse. How tempting it would be to fill that empty space with someone else. This is what it is like to be separated from the body of believers. This is what I believe is happening right now in the Church in BC. We have been separated so long, that the relationship barely exists. Now that our elders in our Reformed Churches (who are not even in agreement with each other) have opened worship in violation of the public health orders, many of us throw up our hands and question their actions. And the restlessness, and the murmuring, and the discontent rear their ugly heads.
We need the church we belong to, like a husband and wife need each other.
So if you are of the mind that churches should reopen, respect your brothers and sisters who are not convinced. And if you are of the mind that the Churches should not reopen yet, what do you do in these unprecedented times? How can you reconcile these differences?
PRAY
First pray. Pray for our elders and church families. Pray that we would be strong and that bonds of our relationship would be strengthened in these times. Our elders have a very difficult task, one that is made harder in these trying times. Many of our leaders are stressed out and suffering themselves from depression and anxiety. Imagine the stress of people demanding to reopen worship on one side, and people questioning them on the other. Pray for them.
REACH OUT
Second, reach out to our brothers and sisters. Ask how you can help build up the body. Go for a walk with someone. Email, text, video chat. Isolation is not healthy. Build and sustain the relationships you have. These are your brothers and sisters. This is the Church. Don’t leave it all in the Pastor’s hands. Don’t stay in isolation.
SEEK RECONCILIATION
Third, if you are not happy with your Church’s decision to reopen worship, don’t get caught in murmuring and discontent…you need to go to your elder privately. Bring up your concerns in a loving fashion. The goal is reconciliation. Remember that we are to obey our elders, they are sinful humans and need our prayer and support.
WORSHIP WITH YOUR CHURCH FAMILY
If you are staying home and participating in worship online, please participate in your own Church’s worship service – if they are online. Don’t give into the consumerism of the world. Church membership is not like a cell phone plan. You cant just switch because you are unhappy. Worship with your own church family.
It is now 925am. I still have not decided whether I am going to grab that mask and attend in person worship. Good thing I live a 2 minute drive from the Church Building! I better get going.
