For whatever reason, 2 Timothy 3 has been on my mind this last little while; in particular that beginning warning that says, “Don’t be naive. There are difficult times ahead.” (MSG). We may have denied such a possibility back in December, 2019 as a New Year was beginning. After all, the markets were doing great, employment was growing and here in Canada we had a minority Liberal government. All good news, seems to me!
Then came the pandemic and with it a regrettable loss of jobs, the shutting of borders and, if you can believe it, wearing a face mask when walking into a bank. Frankly, it would not surprise me to hear that mobsters and gangbangers are social distancing in their safe places too, just like ostrich farmers, skyscraper window cleaners and a few pastors. These are unusual days.
It was Plato who said, “Necessity is the mother of invention”. In other words, a problem or need will bring about other creative means to solve that need, and certainly church leaders, to their credit, have found creative and innovative ways to serve the spiritual needs of their congregations. COVID-19 might have closed church buildings, but it hasn’t stopped live streaming, virtual Bible studies, Facebook, hashtags, and ‘coffee-together’ Zoom conferences.
Where does the church go from here? Is the current status of the church to be the face of the future? What should be the role and response of religious leaders in strengthening spiritual health?
The Reality!
(1) The guarantee afforded Canadians under Section 2(c) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, of the freedom of peaceful assembly, has been restricted in our Covid-19 world. We might think we have autonomy – but that exists only in our minds and is not necessarily a position shared by elected government officials. Should you think otherwise, the Quarantine Act permits fines of up to $750,000 with up to six months in jail. If found “willfully or recklessly” violating the act, the fine can rise to $1 million and three years behind bars. To date, over $13 million in fines have been issued, with Quebec leading the way ($10.3 million). Think what a demonically empowered antichrist (Revelation. 13:1-9) will achieve when it comes to freedoms.
(2) For the first time in Canadian history, the government collectively shut down all places of worship, whether Muslim, Jewish or Christian. And though the protection of life is a pretty compelling reason, it is clear the territorial and provincial governments applied their quarantine rules inconsistently when targeting churches for closure or restrictions.
In June of this year Ontario moved to allow church gatherings to a 30% capacity. In British Columbia’s places of worship were subject to a 50-person cap along with physical distancing protocols and in the land of Anne of Green Gables, prior to June 26, 2020 no more than 15 people indoors; 20 outdoors was permitted. If you lived in New Brunswick, the governments Orange Phase, required outdoor services kept to one hour, no singing and socially distanced parking with windows closed. [cccc.org]. Think what a demonically empowered prophet (Revelation 13:11-17) will achieve when it comes to religion.
How Then Shall We Live?
Though neither a prophet or the son of a prophet, a statement my enemies would no doubt lend their support to, in a Covid-19 world, here are my thoughts and cautions.
First, on-line services, live streaming, video teaching and Zoom conferences are not the wave of the future for the church. I suppose church leadership could simply plod along while hiding out, but that sort of response has limited virtue. Yes, there is a sea of online learning portals, but there is no substitute for in-house, face-to-face contact, learning and growth. I say this as a theological educator for over two decades with lots of e-learning experience under my belt. Not everything can be outsourced!
Did you hear about the student on Zoom who recorded himself sitting at a desk and then played the video back as his virtual background for another class? Smart kid!
Recording an on-line message for the faithful local congregants to view on-line Sunday A.M. while in their PJs sipping coffee and fast-forwarding to the parts they like, is not invaluable as a temporary fix. Likewise, holding a Zoom Bible study on Romans 9:14-18, though challenging, is not insurmountable or a bad thing either. Still, the secularists are not wrong in their general disapproval of social platforms as a long-term substitute. Educationally the grand experiment is generally receiving failing grades these months and as someone rightfully remarked: “The math ain’t working.”
Among the deep concerns include low motivation, content and expectations, widened achievement gaps, distractions, sporadic attendance, limited internet access, apathy, lack of immediate measurable achievement produce unenviable outcomes and social grief. Add to this buffet the reality that that much of the learning is asynchronous and not all leaders (pastors included) are effective virtually and outcomes can be poor ― very poor!
Someone might say, “Our data shows we are reaching more people than we do on a general Sunday.” No doubt you are, but seriously – “Who are they?” Do they live in your community, your province … or even on this continent? I thought so!
Pastors generally are engaging their faith-community as best they can, given what they have been handed. And yes, no doubt there are the few who are willing to coast and do very little, enjoying the time off. Still, let’s be transparent here ― circumstances have pushed most to the current alternative and for many it is a shaky house-of-cards, a kind of Sword of Damocles hanging by a single strand of horsehair – with many under constant apprehension. While pastors need to be open to new and helpful strategies, for the average Joe-leadership, I don’t see the current realities as the wave in the church’s future.
Second, rendering unto Caesar the things that are his does not mean surrendering all things to Caesar or that all things belong to Caesar. (Matt. 22:21) I am not talking about any general mistrust of the governments handling of our corporate public health, but its potential over-reach and the idea that churches shall be in lock-step with authorities.
Certainly, churches should act in the best interests of public safety, but pastors should be generally uncomfortable with surrendering to public officials religious liberties that hinder worship and matters of faith. When the government singles out the church for ‘special’ attention like keeping services to one hour or not permitting any singing when general social distancing measures et al are faithfully adhered to – it is an over-reach!
In the United States, this is precisely why the Attorney General said “… government may not impose special restrictions on religious activity that do not also apply to similar nonreligious activity.” To illustrate this closer to home, the Prime Minister told Canadian Christians this past Easter to sacrifice their plans and stay home; that Jesus would be pleased. Yet that weekend Mr. Trudeau crossed the provincial boundary from Ottawa into Quebec to see his family at Harrington Lake.
Civil AND religious liberties are to be protected. Some things are licitly Caesar’s and others licitly God’s. Matthew 22 wonderfully reminds us that the claims of Caesar and God are not mutually inclusive and the three tests of Jesus in the wilderness prove it, for Jesus dutifully rebukes the metaphorical powers of Rome.
Pastors need to perceive threats to religious freedoms and develop a bit of a spine when overreach happens, whether it’s Covid-19 or something else.
Remember - not all things are Caesars!
Third, buildings are not necessary for Christianity to thrive, but community is, so leadership must be intentional about getting believers to connect ‘in-person’. Back in 1930 the German Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, remarked, “A Christian who stays away from the assembly is a contradiction in terms.” Of course, we hear this and think in terms of church buildings with their crosses, padded chairs … and dark auditoriums with coloured lights and smoke machines. We’ve come a long way!
In the New Testament early believers gathered in public spaces (Acts 2:46) or as smaller groups in private homes (Acts 12:12) and for over 300 years, without the formal ownership of buildings, Christianity flourished and blossomed. In fact, before Christianity became the dominant religion of the Roman Empire in 313 and was decriminalized (the Constantinian shift), a church legally owning property was particularly ambiguous.
When the early Christian apologist Justin Martyr (100-165 AD) was interrogated by the Roman Prefect Rusticus, he was asked, “Where do you meet?”
“Wherever it is each one’s preference or opportunity. In any case, do you suppose we can all meet in the same place? I have been living above the baths of [text corrupt] for the entire period of my sojourn at Rome … and I have known no other meeting place but here. Anyone who desired could come to my residence, and I would give to him the words of truth.”
In his baptismal formula in Galatians 3:28 expressing race, social rank and sexual equality, the Apostle Paul writes, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” In other words, in the world of the first century Christians, it seems transparently clear that there was a universal son/daughter-ship ― a revolutionary outcome defining a ‘new community’.
Wayne A. Meeks of Yale University writes of these early believers …
“They were willing to change their lives and to become initiated into a group which brought them only hostility, estrangement from their families and neighbours, and the possibility of persecution to the point of death.”
Why such willingness? Because within this ‘new community’ where “all are in in Christ”, members are not disadvantaged, slaves receive dignity and status, and mutual social support flows from the command to love.
Having travelled to countries where believers meet under threat of being ‘found-out’ reported, imprisoned, even tortured, they bravely choose “not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25) Why? Because as with the early Christians, they see the ‘new community’ accruing to them particular benefits not hitherto experienced and that faith can best be fully lived out through meaningful and encouraging relationships with other believers, one in which we bear one another’s burdens, are generous with our gifts, pray for one another and share our stories.
To grow in faith is to be influenced and inspired by living Christian examples in our daily lives. Oh yah, and did I mention the Hebrews text is a command? Christians need to connect face-to-face and the wise pastor will think and then act to make it happen. Ecclesiastical buildings are not necessary to spiritual growth and emotional well-being.
I am not looking to make any special claim to profundity here. I am simply suggesting that in the midst of massive shifts, as we merge into a ‘new normal’, be careful that Covid-19 does not breed an apathy that looks to technology to ‘save the day’ … or an apathy that fools us into taking all of our cues from government officials … or an apathy that diminishes the fundamental virtue and necessity of Christians building community face-to-face.
There are lots of government claims that are necessarily legitimate. There are lots of Christian claims that are necessarily legitimate as well. And while I am at it, it is not theologically accurate to suppose that the secularists need to like me so that they will like Jesus, therefore I will submit to over-reach. Jesus did say "If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me first” (John 15:18).
While economic life might depend on the emperor,
religious life depends to a great degree on the pastor.
Some might be reluctant to become a kind of religious pinata, the target of both secular authorities and Christian zealots for their response and decisions to the spiritual health of their community in a Covid-19 world. Still, the ‘burden’ of God’s call (e.g. Jeremiah, Ezekiel]) to leadership and to preaching and teaching God’s word, cannot be softened because of uncomfortableness.
Measured concern is prudent. Attention to the vulnerable and self-isolated is virtuous. Interpreting the headlines level-headedly demonstrates patience. Plus, there is the advantage of “If anyone lack wisdom, let him ask God …” (James 1:5). In this pandemic, religious groups have not only been largely ignored, but generally dismissed. Religious leaders need to change this through engagement.
Christ is the head of the church, not Caesar. And in his wisdom, he gave gifts to the church. (Ephesians 4:11) Pastors should not be afraid or reluctant to exercise that authority … in a common-sense, faith-exercising way for the long term good of their faith community.
“Only Saying …”
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