Effective Churches Find Balance

Effective Churches Find Balance

Effective Churches Find Balance

If the Bible is true, it will critique every culture and every person through the lens of the gospel. That means that everyone will be annoyed by something it says. If the church is straddling the same line in this orthodoxical balancing act, the left will think you are too right and the right that you are too left. The Church needs to do better at balancing in this COVID19 new norm. The Church, big C, is somehow not responding to COVID19 adequately because if we were we wouldn’t be using the excuse that the community is watching or that we won’t be good citizens as our only reasoning. We also shouldn’t be rushing into gathering again, hell-bent taking stupid risks that jeopardize the well-being of “kingdom citizens”, neighbors and seekers alike using “separation of the church and state as a mantra overriding our gospel mantra.

Different churches have different mantras. A separatist church knows Scripture, but won’t engage culture. A Syncretist church knows all about the culture but let’s culture dictate what Scripture says. But a church that is seeking to find the middle and Effective Church, where they know Scripture and their culture will contextualize the gospel effectively and faithfully and should do so in the face of a pandemic too. So what would this Effective church look like responding to the coronavirus? How should the Church respond as a prophetic voice amidst of the political, medical, and media cacophony? I wish to attempt to answer those questions.

The great theologian Augustine said that “government is a necessary evil, that it is necessary because of evil.” And most theologians in the history of the church have said that human evil is the reason even corrupt governments are better than no government at all. The function of government is to restrain evil and to maintain, uphold, and protect the sanctity of life and of property. There was a clear purpose given by the government early on to protect and not overwhelm our medical and health system. Praise God, we have been able to do that. What now? Given this function, the Christian understands that the government is ordained of God, and so Christians, first of all, are called to respect whatever it is that God who institutes and ordains. For God’s glory,we are called to be model citizens. I propose that a model citizen of the kingdom of God does not veer to the left nor to the right but finds their center and stays there. 

Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil. Proverbs 4:27

The former helps us in another responsibility, and this is the one that sometimes brings us into controversial areas. I personally believe in a separation of domains of authority between the church and state. “Separation of church and state assumes a division of labor; the church has its job, and the state has its job”. How does an effective church respond? An effective church will see that today’s culture articulates “separation of church and state means separation of state and God as if the state and the government were answerable to no one but themselves—as if the government didn’t have to respond to God. However, what we also know is true, is that a sovereign God does monitor the state. How can the church be a prophetic voice for God if we’ve can be so quieted out of fear, convenience, self-preservation, and justifiable self-protection, which I’ll mention here in a moment? 

When the government is no longer acting justly and no longer protecting life—sanctioning abortions, for example—then it is the task of the church to be the prophetic voice, to call the state to the task and tell the state to repent and do what God commands it to do. Because the state tells us to barricade in homes in one state, but gather on beaches in another, to leave Walmarts open, but close mom and pop shops, there seems to be an opportunity no a responsibility for the church to be a prophetic voice too. But what does this look like as it relates to COVID19? When Martin Luther faced the plague he articulated that both Government leaders and Spiritual leaders share similar responsibilities. Those in ministry have a vocational commitment not to flee. He wrote,

“must remain steadfast before the peril of death.” The sick and dying need a good shepherd who will strengthen and comfort them and administer the sacraments—lest they be denied the Eucharist before their passing. Public officials, including mayors and judges, are to stay and maintain civic order. Public servants, including city-sponsored physicians and police officers, must continue their professional duties. Even parents and guardians have vocational duties toward their children.”

So Luther says disciples need shepherds, they need disciples, Elders, pastors, Christians to be steadfast in the peris, plagues, and pandemics of our time. These are not actions that don’t take into consideration science and health experts. What he is also articulating is be safe, not stupid. 

Luther does not encourage his readers to expose themselves recklessly to danger. His letter constantly straddles two competing goods: honoring the sanctity of one’s own life, and honoring the sanctity of those in need. He said we must be compelled to serving in that which is the higher good, not straddling what might be cultural fear and government demagoguery. Where there is a lack of leadership the Church should lead, where there is a lack of goodness the church is commanded to be the good where there is none.  Luther isn’t telling us to do what may sound right to cultural fears or even to what may be cultural norms and mores. He is saying be love, be the truth, be the church. Live boldly for the gospel. If there are those in the church who are wise elders, shepherds who have been mindful of culture, seeking to protect the well being of others, but their spirit is feeling a sense of unease, I’m just asking that maybe you give them comparable attention as you are giving governors, emperors, and scientists. 

Luther makes it clear that God gives humans a tendency toward self-protection and trusts that they will take care of their bodies (Eph. 5:29; 1 Cor. 12:21–26). “All of us,” he says, “have the responsibility of warding off this poison to the best of our ability because God has commanded us to care for the body.” This is a sensible point, and one that I think if the church, in relation to COVID19 can provide ample safety for one another, it is also fair to believe that that they can also fellowship and worship in wellness a sovereign God who has called us to be faithful in our mission and to his kingdom. Though we must seek to care and keep safe the well-being of others, we mustn’t be doing it out of fear of death. The writer of Hebrews writes 2:14 Therefore since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil),  15and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death.

The church doesn’t lead in fear nor do we fear death, we should be leary of following any leader inside or outside of the church that uses bullying and fear to instruct the masses and yet this seems to be much of what is being touted by the media and local governments along with current and ever-changing, migrating scientific data that differs from state to state and from doctor to doctor. It would be wrong for the church to have this be the governing policy for determining how it is to respond to the Corona Virus. 

Like Luther Charles Spurgeon a pastor,  also had to lead his church at being an effective church during an epidemic of Cholera which resulted in over 600 deaths, a mortality rate of 12.8% in some parts of the city. In a sermon preached on February 18^th, 1855 Spurgeon spoke of the fear of death:

“Who is the man that does not fear to die? I will tell you. The man that is a believer. Fear to die! Thank God, I do not. The cholera may come again next summer—I pray God it may not; but if it does, it matters not to me: I will toil and visit the sick by night and by day until I drop; and if it takes me, sudden death is sudden glory.” 

He echoes Luther’s words that the role of a pastor is to first not model fear. I’m certainly not saying to model stupidity. Luther has already given us wisdom in responding to the well-being of our neighbors and protecting life. For Christians we should be willing to be the first to visit those closest to facing death not hiding from it. 

On 14 October 1855, in a sermon on Psalm 90:1 Spurgeon spoke of experiencing God’s protection:

“Hast thou known what it is to dwell securely in God, to enter into the Most High, and laugh to scorn the anger, the frowns, the sneers, the contempt, the slander and calumny of men; to ascent into the sacred place of the pavilion of the Most High, and to abide under the shadow of the Almighty, and to feel thyself secure? And mark thee, thou mayest do this. In times of pestilence it is possible to walk in the midst of cholera and death, singing—‘Plagues and deaths around me fly, Till he please, I cannot die.’ 

It’s a problem when the church stops singing hymns and spends more time preaching what is on the evening news or the Mayor’s morning updates. He goes on to say, ‘It is possible to stand exposed to the utmost degree of danger, and yet to feel such a holy serenity that we can laugh at fear; too great, too mighty, too powerful through God to stoop for one moment to the cowardice of trembling.” I’m simply calling for the church to laugh more, hug more because of a holy serenity not hypocritical cowardice while we preach power and fearlessness. 

And what it this purpose that we should seek to gather, to teach, to stream our services on Youtube? Spurgeon would answer thus, 

“If you ask me what I think to be the design, I believe it to be this—to waken up our indifferent population, to make them remember that there is a God, to render them susceptible of the influences of the gospel, to drive them to the house of prayer, to influence their minds to receive the Word, and moreover to startle Christians into energy and earnestness, that they may work while it is called to-day. Already I have been told by Christian brethren labouring in the east of London, that there is a greater willingness to listen to gospel truth, and that if there be a religious service it is more acceptable to the people now than it was; for which I thank God as an indication that affliction is answering its purpose.”

Spurgeon said that during the outbreak of Cholera there were still religious services. No, they were streaming online. I suppose if they had streaming they may have used it just as we have. But I also believe, one of the reasons he was receiving word that there was a “greater willingness to hear the gospel” is because other Christians, churchgoers were laboring, not hiding, not chilling. They were with people sharing the gospel. They were going to people who were sick and those fearful of becoming sick. They weren’t just waiting for people to come to them. They also weren’t giving up gathering while not endangering the lives of people and children. He said that because of the outbreak, religious services were actually more acceptable to people. I believe the same can be true in our day in our context. We’ve had a team working on what our transition will look like. When we do start gathering again, it will not look like it once did initially. I believe we can begin some sort of transition now.

The church can find ways to meet with those ready and willing to meet while respecting and protecting those who are not ready. No judgment. We believe there are those ready to hear the gospel, but not on YouTube alone.  Those seeking truth and those God is pursuing are being drawn by the Spirit to God’s Church as Scripture articulates it, not merely to the exception we may be currently practicing. God wants to draw people to see Christians fellowshipping in the way that Christ desires us to. He wants them to see us in the upper room filled with the spirit, in the streets like Stephen prophesying, holding the hands of the widow, taking in the foster child in the midst of COVID19.

I believe we can do both now that we have taken over a month of social distancing. I’m so thankful for the strength everyone has shown in doing what we have up to this point. As research continues to change, A statistical analysis of all 50 states and Washington, D.C., found that social distancing measures effectively slowed the spread of coronavirus on the whole, but did not reduce the number of new infections per day, but we helped accomplish the main goal which was not to overwhelm the hospitals and save lives. However, as the country starts to re-open there is a lack of unity in what the purpose is how we do it and when. For example, The CDC was saying children should wear masks, but now they are saying it’s not healthy for them to breathe in their own carbon dioxide. SIDS can occur from the same issue occurring in a crib. Everything is so fluid. People are trying to keep up with the changes and protocols and learning as we go. For instance, There have been people passing out while driving who are wearing their masks because they are breathing in too much carbon dioxide. As science continues to help us make changes, I believe the church should have a voice in helping people make the transition too.

It’s time for the church to be a prophetic voice in the absence of a clear purpose coming from elsewhere. We can be effective in our calling and in order to be an “effective church,” that I articulated earlier. We must do both. It’s the middle. Those who have safely been alone in their homes might be able to have a social distancing lunch with fellow believers in fellowship now. Those who have already been fellowshipping can start to be honest with everyone and no longer pretend that they are keeping up with appearances. The body needs us to be real and truthful in our walk. We can have some life groups meeting face to face and others meeting on zoom. In fact i think there is a likely hood that we will be zooming in friends and families into services and TK and life groups for a long time as we start to meet again. That’s OK, whatever it takes. I believe that those who may have to stay at home because of work will pray for the work of those who can and will gather until they can join us. There can be both grace and space. Maybe that’s what our Transition is to be called. grace and space. There must also be Luthers and Spurgeons who are willing to risk death to care for the dying, those in fear, those who must socially distance, and together all of us be a righteous witness and a prophetic voice to our city. I believe we as a church can find a way to be that church that abides in that middle-land in spirit and action. Somehow, we can be a more effective church if we will allow the gospel to keep us centered. We will need a lot of prayers to make the transition back to gathering together as a church face to face. But it’s worth it. There is value in wrestling through these things together because we love one another.