Will The Church Keep Leaving the Building?
If you were on social media for more than about 45 seconds last weekend, you saw a reference to it. The quotes were similar, and the sentiment was universal. Due to dozens–even hundreds–of congregations of the Lord’s people cancelling public worship services and having services online in their homes, people were saying that it was about time the church “got out of the building.”
It is a glorious and Biblical sentiment. Certainly, the New Testament demands that we come together (cf. Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 14:26) and there is an emphasis on not neglecting these assemblies (Hebrews 10:25). However, as was mentioned so often this past weekend, if we confine our faithfulness to showing up at a building for an hour or two on Sunday, we have missed the point of life-changing faith.
And I must admit: seeing online lesson after online lesson throughout the day on Sunday, followed by comments and pictures of families gathered for worship, was one of the most amazing uses of social media imaginable. With it all, there was the constant reminder of getting out of our buildings, which, in far too many places, is a much-needed reminder.
As I reflected on that, though, I had to think to myself: will I still get out of the building and “be the church” when I am able to be around other people again?
You see, it was easy for me to get out of the building on Sunday and be the church. It meant that I got to be at home with my family! I got to sit in my living room and sing. I got to pray in the comfort and safety of my home. Though I preached, I preached from a chair by my own television with loving faces nearby who I would then eat lunch with (about 20 feet from where I was preaching).
I wonder…I just wonder…if I will have the same emphasis in my life when the bans are lifted and we are able to be around people (and not at a “safe” distance anymore). I just wonder if I will be as comfortable praying in a restaurant as I was in my living room? I wonder if I’ll send as many texts or make as many phone calls checking on people’s health and safety when all this is over as I did when it began?
And, just for myself, I have to wonder if I will have a renewed energy to reach the lost face-to-face as I have through Facebook. When the screen is taken away and the conversations need to be had with an open Bible on the table before us, I wonder if the church will still leave the building.
My prayer is that it will…and we’ll never have been stronger.
To Receive Every Article from A Legacy of Faith through Email for Free, Click Here
AUTHOR: Adam Faughn
