Sleeping Watchmen 3

Let us think for a moment of the aftereffects of this microorganism that has brought the whole world to a standstill.

Church people are stranded as they are unable to attend church.

But the reality is that the church has been elevated to the actual position of being the church of Christ.

Do you remember Christ saying that the gates of hell cannot prevail against the church of Christ?

If the church was the building, then this virus has been able to prevail against it. In fact even Caesar has been able to stop it.

But that is not what the Bible teaches. The church’s power is in the salt and light as opposed to the spotlight and flood. Its power is subject to its ‘infiltration’ of the marketplace with the reality of the transformation that the Gospel brings about.

Matthew 6 talks about our faith being ‘hidden’ for its impact to be seen. We do not practice our religion for show.

But it also says that God will then show up to justify or prove the genuineness of that faith (reward you openly)

Corruption happened when we made the building the centre of our practice of faith.

Then we made the pastor the superstar instead of the shepherd Christ expects him to be.

Then we focused the giving on the superstar and structure instead of the body of Christ. By this I mean that we transferred the responsibility of guiding our giving from the leading of the Holy Spirit to the passion and convincing power of the pulpit and its owners.

This meant that the ministry of the church was shifted from individual believers to the clique at the head of the structure. Interpersonal ministry was therefore hijacked to meet the whims of those bosses.

I am sure you have encountered a believer who is convinced that feeding a starving neighbor is wrong if they give in ‘church’, especially the tithe. This is worse if it involves some of us whose ministry is not confined to those structures as it is looked as sin (even taught) to support such ministers and ministries.

But the virus has locked down the structure and its superstar. Even those who locked themselves in those ivory towers that one had to make intricate appointments to get to them are blocked.

The believer has to decide whether they are adequate in themselves to build their faith. They must decide that they need to get their spiritual sustenance outside the superstar.

This is because online and TV ‘worship’ is not as powerful and influential as the presence in the normal service in a church building. In streaming and TV, your attention is not as absolute as in a service structured since you are at home or other familiar place. As such, you may be doing or considering other things as you are listening.

It is therefore possible that quite a number of believers will in the lock up consider and search what the Bible says about the power of the shepherd and giving as they will be sober and not under ‘influence’ when making decisions. The fact that the offering basket is not being passed means that the psychological advantage the superstar has is broken.

I therefore see more believers ministering to one another in their giving. No one can hide under ‘I gave to church and therefore go there for assistance’ as the church building is closed. The church has therefore gone to the highways and byways.

And the same will happen to apologetics. Many believers directed difficult questions to the superstars and church staff. They will have to consider looking for the answers themselves as the experts cannot be reached, being also in a lockdown.

This is what makes discipleship so essential.

The Great Commission does not mean what we emphasize. Jesus said we teach all nations, and not just evangelize. A taught believer not only understands obedience, they can teach it as an overflow of their faith. 1 Peter 3: 15 was not written to pastors and church staff.

That is what this lockdown will produce from believers. As the seeking world starts flocking to Jesus, normal believers will be on hand to receive and lead them.

This must of course greatly impact the way people give as there is no single group of ‘priests’ ministering. Each believer will be holding fort wherever they are. In any case, the flood of new believers will not understand why they should be giving to a structure whose ministry impact is almost zero when there are ministers and ministries doing so much for the kingdom they have joined.

We grew up knowing that the church is a building and thus the focal point of our faith. These will join without these fetters and so will search the scriptures without the blinders that have hindered our ministry and giving.

What this means is that the superstars will become irrelevant as all believers have become what Christ intended them to be, the holy priesthood.

But there will still be called apart ministers and leaders. But their part will be the equipping of the saints for ministry as Ephesians 4 says.

Another positive from this virus is that it has shouted to the church what the Bible has always taught; that we are one body.

We are being repeatedly reminded that the strongest defense against infection is in the weakest link. It is vain to be overprotected when your neighbor is not.

That is why cities are looking for accommodation for their homeless and street families they never seemed to notice before. And it is not because they have suddenly developed any love for them. They know that by not protecting the vulnerable they are exposing themselves to infection. I am safe if only all of us are safe. My super protection is nothing if someone else is exposed.

The church is Christ’s body and each of us is a part of the whole. As such, a believer in prison in Iran for their faith should cause pain to me in my safety. A sister being raped in Iraq for her faith should cause immense pain as she is part of me.

This is the reason for Christ’s very harsh words in Matthew 25. He said that your eternity will depend on how you treated the brotherhood, especially the vulnerable.

Consider this church with a billion annual budget uptown when churches in the slums are unable to properly roof their shacky churches. Or churches who give their pastors six figure salaries when a neighboring pastor has to do casual labor to be able to minister the few hours he can afford after work despite the fatigue. Or pastors who have all terrain guzzlers for the short trips from their house to church and other classic abodes when another pastor walks for hours to be able to minister because he can’t even afford a bicycle.

Now that we are all locked down there will be a lot of soul searching among the membership about what a pastor and pastoring is. And chances are that the church building, however big it is will lose its luster for the church scattered. The same will happen on the ministry and minister.

Are we ready?

You see, we are all staring at death. And death has a way of stripping life of pretense. The idea of facing God is always sobering. And that is the crisis the world is now in.

People are turning to God in droves. They are praying those desperate prayers and giving those impossible promises. Yet quite a number will keep them once their prayers are answered. And we should wait for them.

Since the prophets have been unable to summon the solemn assembly I have mentioned in past posts, will the church of Christ stand up to receive all these who are coming to Christ for His salvation in this hour?