We Were Staying Home Before the Orders
All around the country, governing authorities have put stay-at-home orders in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This has obviously disrupted the normal rhythms of worship for the American church.
In the early going, many if not most churches have handled the orders humbly and compliantly. “We have an opportunity to love our neighbors by staying home, and we demonstrate our trust in God when we submit to the earthly authorities he has placed over us,” we said.
Let me say this clearly. This is and was a good and right response.
But it also causes me to ask: “Why does the church so easily obey the command to stay home, when the same church often struggles so greatly to obey our Lord’s orders to go out?”
Now, some of you are already feeling defensive. “I didn’t easily obey the command to stay home!” you might say. You will argue that you have defied or are preparing to defy the stay-at-home orders and have fought for your rights to freely do your thing during the pandemic.
Listen, being equally disobedient to commands to go and commands to stay doesn’t clear your guilt. But that is a rebuke for another time. If we believe in a sovereign God, then in a mysterious way, we can say that God has hindered his own church’s ability to corporately worship. What might he be showing us?
The corporate gathering of the church is sacred and beautiful. I feel the pain of these orders. The postponement of gathered worship is a true loss, I confess.
We are reaching a point of restlessness in the stay-at-home period. The church is beginning to clamor for a return to normal. In this clamor, I hear how we miss seeing our friends on Sunday. How we miss being able to do the things we love. How we miss being able to worship freely the way we normally do. How we miss being able to travel freely, and to not wear face masks. How our vacations are being canceled.
Worst case, and far too common, I am just hearing a loud, “I don’t like being told what to do, especially when I don’t agree with or understand the reasons.”
But what I am not hearing with nearly the same volume is this: “The stay-at-home orders are difficult for me and my church because it creates barriers to getting the gospel out to my neighbors, coworkers and community.”
And in this area, I am convinced that the lack of expressed concern is because when it comes to evangelism and neighbor love, most of us were already staying home without being asked.
60 million people die every day, the majority of them having never known Jesus. Some of them have never even heard his name. Many are the outcasts of society – the poor, the homeless, the orphan, the widow. These are people who Jesus cares deeply about, who he died for, and who he is calling his church to reach. Many are people in our own communities.
And that was before the global pandemic.
The Command to Go
Matthew 28:18-20:
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
We often think that the Great Commission is for anyone other than ourselves. But Jesus commands us all to go. In Matthew 10, Jesus sent out his disciples “as sheep among wolves,” commanding them not to bring anything on the journey, because God provides for those who go. He will provide for you as you go.
The Bible is filled with examples of believers who went when God called them to go- the redemptive history of the world is full of these stories. But for each person who went, there were also many who did not go.
Last year, I preached a sermon on the rich young ruler (listen here), whose story is told in Mark chapter 10. He did not go when Jesus called him to sell his possessions, give to the poor, and follow Him. He counted the cost of being a disciple, and concluded that the cost was too high. He walked away from Christ in order to cling to his comfort and possessions. Today, we don’t even know his name. We remember him only as the man who didn’t go. But he wasn’t a believer.
When Jesus commands his church to go, going is not optional.
But we don’t want to go. We don’t want to spread the gospel, feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, or visit those in prison. We don’t want to risk our comfort and safety. All the while, we believe we are following Jesus, but we are really acting more like the rich young ruler who walked away from Christ.
Reader, I offer you the same reminder I need myself. Jesus is worthy, and this life is for giving away as we store up our treasure in heaven. Who would Jesus have you minister to with the gospel today?
PS—
Jesus always has His way with His church! I know that for each person who needs this rebuke, another is celebrating a gospel victory with a neighbor right now! I want to hear these stories as an encouragement to those getting ready to take a risk for Christ. Share in the comments!
