(Don't) Come to the Altar

I’m seeing people push harder and harder to open the churches (most recently an opinion piece from Dr. David Gushee¹) and I must ask, why the rush?

Don’t get me wrong, I understand the pull to the church service on a Sunday morning.  If you’d told me 5 years ago that statement would come out of my mouth I’d have said you were nuts.  It’s true though.  I look forward to church.  The laughs, the tears, the kids running everywhere after service and those of us who sing our hearts out even if we couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket. 

I have looked forward to this since I rejoined the church community and I miss it.

I miss being able to sit with a group of mostly adults as our pastor expands on a verse or a book or just relate something in our everyday life to a story in the bible and provide a different angle. 

I miss being able to embrace.  As a kid, I used to dread the “Peace be with you” part of the mass.  I never knew who was behind me and it just made the social anxiety kick in a bit.  Now however, every single service, my church takes time during the service to get up out of our seats to go and hug, or high five, or fist bump, or whatever the pastor suggests that morning, with people who I now view as family.

I miss being able to teach Sunday School to kids who are learning about some stories for the first time.  Truth be told, sometimes I’m learning the stories for the first time as well. 

I miss time after the service that sometimes exceeds the time we spent in service.  Learning from others, getting help with our issues and helping where we can.

I miss all of this but I’m in no rush to go back and I don’t think I’ll be going back any time soon. 

From an overall big C Church perspective, I don’t understand the push.  Why are the Christian churches of all denominations (Catholics and Protestants alike) the ones leading this charge?  I have yet to hear a Rabbi or an Imam on the news upset because their rights are being infringed upon and they should be able to whatever they want to.  I have heard Christian leaders not only in the US but here in Canada as well saying that the church is being persecuted by this.  I do not believe that the inability to meet for an hour a week would qualify as persecution. 

Also, I’m pretty sure Jesus himself said that “where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18:20).  I haven’t read all of the latest and most up to date translations but I’m pretty sure that there is nothing in the Greek or Hebrew that says, “but Zoom doesn’t count.”

I’m not going to sit here and tell you that Zoom church is the same as the real thing, but it’s a pretty good start.  Don’t you think that if they had this ability in Jesus’ time, they would use it to reach more people than they otherwise could have?  Perhaps we need to embrace rather than endure online church.

The cynic in me is afraid that the push back to church comes down to the same reason we’re trying to re-open stores and get things back on track.  Are we re-opening churches because the tithing money isn’t coming in at the rate that is needed?

Perhaps it would be helpful to take a look at what church may look like when we can go back.  There are some opening now so we can get a glimpse.  Walk in a propped open door so that no one has to touch anything.  Possibly have your temperature taken on the way in.  No one gets a bulletin because we want less touch points.  Hymnals are gone in the churches they were in so as not to have unclean surfaces.  Every other row is roped off and families sit together at least 6’ apart from anyone else.  There is no Sunday School for the kids.  Masks are worn by everyone through the entire service.  There is no physical greeting of any kind between congregants and even a friendly smile goes unnoticed behind a mask.  Depending on your state or province, singing in a public enclosed space may be prohibited as well.  Communion in any recognizable form is probably also off of the spiritual and literal table.  Finally, when service is done, everyone files out and heads home without any conversation. 

Doesn’t that sound great?  We should definitely open things up to make that happen!

I forgot to mention that roping off these rows mean that the churches will be filled at best to half capacity.  How does a church manage who gets to go?  Who gets top billing?  Is it the pastor’s friends and family?  The biggest donors?  Or is it the “true Christians” or ones who’ve spent the most time in the church? 

“How did he make the list?”

“I heard that she didn’t even try to get a spot”

I can hear it now. 

Now is not the time to run back to church.  If your faith hinges that much on the building itself, then you need to look at who you are worshiping and what your idols are. 

We are the church and however we meet whether in person or online, we are in community.  Our job right now is to take care of our community and take care of all people by not taking unnecessary risks. 

As I continue to write and read more, I’m sure there are plenty of reasons that some folks keep me in their prayers; I’m not rushing back to church because I don’t want my health or that of my family to be on that list of prayers.

 

 

 

 

 

1.       https://baptistnews.com/article/despite-the-risks-its-time-to-open-our-churches/#.XwRVZOcpCHv