These are strange days. They’re strange for my church, and if you’re reading this from another congregation, they’re probably strange for your church too. Here in Lexington, we have been unable to gather for a church service for over a week. It is a heavy thing to cancel the regular worship meeting of the saints of Jesus Christ. No one wants to do it. But sometimes, decisions have to be made that have the overall safety of God’s people in mind.
In light of that, I have been thinking on how one can be a good church member while church itself is not gathering. Ponder on this list with me!
Be a prayer warrior. Scripture says that the effectual, fervent prayer of the righteous avails much. It is hard to be apart from the people you love the most. It is difficult for a church to even function properly when services have to be cut. Don’t take the newfound free time in your life lightly - spend it with Jesus. Pray for your pastors, your deacons, your teachers, your youth group, your kids, and for your elderly who may be especially struggling during times like these. And pray that church can be back in session soon!
Check on your church family. A text message goes a long way. When we come to church, we tell each other how good it is to see them, we smile, we laugh, and we share our lives together. Let’s not fail to do the same when we’re apart. Taking the fifteen seconds to send a thoughtful text that checks in on your brothers and sisters will not be unappreciated. You don’t have to bombard them with phone calls and talk their ears off - especially to the younger generations who don’t take as kindly to those sorts of things - but do enough to show that people know they’re loved whether church meets or not.
Encourage your pastor. Okay, grant me some liberty here. These decisions weigh heavily on your pastor. Whether you are reading this from my faith family or another, trust me when I tell you that no decision feels right. It is eerily similar to the COVID days when literally every decision felt wrong. Your pastor has prayed over this. He has watched radars nonstop for a week. He has taken the safety and health of all of his members into account. Now is likely not the time to criticize him. I’ll also add this: don’t play the comparison game with other pastors and churches who may have made slightly different decisions than yours. Some met on Friday or Saturday to beat the storm. Some went ahead with regularly scheduled services. Some cancelled and live-streamed, others cancelled and did nothing. Scripture doesn’t give us a playbook for this. Seminary doesn’t prepare you for this. Your pastor and his inner circle made the best decision he could make for YOUR church. And he misses being there, too.
Don’t slack on giving. You just knew a pastor was going to find a way to work tithing into this, didn’t you? I’ll keep it brief. We missed a Sunday in January. We’ve had lots of folks sick in January. Even this Sunday, snow and ice will still be around, so I’m sure attendance will be low. All that to say: the local church needs tithe money. That is the means the Lord has given the local church by which to operate. Don’t let January be a down month in giving! If you need to write a check one week that makes up for a missed week, go for it. If you want to give online, then give online. It doesn’t matter how you give, and if I’m being honest, it doesn’t matter how much you give. But determine to yourself and to your Lord that you will not allow this to keep you from giving.
Share your needs. This is so important. Your church cares about you! You may have needs arise during this time of bad weather that you haven’t had before. Don’t keep them to yourself. God has given you a church family that you can count on! I’m thankful to pastor a church that does this well. Just this week, I am aware of folks who have needed rides and gotten them. We needed some food delivered to our church to be stored for a future event and it was taken care of. Don’t wait for someone to ask you if you need anything - reach out! You have pastors and deacons who love you. Let them do their job and be a blessing to you!
Prepare your heart for regathering. At some point soon, church doors are going to open once more. Let us look forward to that day with anticipation! Let us be excited and join in with the Psalmist in saying, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘let us go to the house of the Lord!’” When the church doors open on Sunday, as I expect they will, don’t show up like you have so many Sundays before - come expecting something big! Come excited that we get to gather and worship together again! The first Sunday back worshiping together after a forced hiatus should be one of sheer joy. So prepare your heart for such a time!
This is certainly not an exhaustive list, but it features six practical ways you can stay plugged into your church during a brief time of physical separation. At the end of the day, we know that God has His church firmly in the palm of His hand, so no snow storm, ice storm, or pandemic will destroy her.
Finally, one last word for my Southern Heights family who I love and miss dearly:
Church, I love ya!
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