We are the Church….even in a pandemic. Posted on July 23, 2020 by Brendon
“The church does not exist for us. We are the church, and we exist for the world.” – Erwin McManus
” Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love……Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen…..Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as in Christ God forgave you. Follow God’s example, therefore as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as an offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 4: 2,29,32 & 5:1,2
The church has become a place of contention. So many thoughts and emotions and experiences that have impacted and formed opinions of every church.
Whether your church home has began gathering again or maybe your church home has suspended in person services for a long time or maybe you are waiting in the midst of confusion of when you will meet again. There is still one truth that lasts throughout the season we are in….
WE ARE THE CHURCH, even during a pandemic.
Serving in youth ministry, for about 8 years, some of that time was internships and schooling, but overall I spent about 8 years of my life serving in youth ministry. One of the things that I remember vividly about youth ministry is realizing that students may or may not have the best homes to help grow their relationship with Jesus outside of the youth ministry setting. Meaning, they would go home to a chaotic mess that would deter them from learning about Jesus. That wasn’t the case for all students and to be honest, the student that had a home that was chaotic were the students I gravitated too.
As I have served with adults over the last 18 months or so, I have learned that sometimes the same things that students are learning, are the things that we need to learn. For instance, the need to walk with Jesus more than just Sunday.
As you read in scripture, over and over again there are a few things that we use to train and remind our volunteers here at Harvester Christian Church when it comes to our guest services on Sundays:
- Be Open – Throughout the life of Jesus, we see that He travels all of the country side. He walks in groups, he walks with his disciples, he walks by himself…sometimes on water. But the thing about Jesus, is that when the opportunity presents itself, Jesus was Open to anyone that came near him. Consider the Samaritan Woman at the Well. This woman was someone with a past and well a nasty past as we would learn. Not to mention that she is a woman and in Jesus’ time as a Rabi, He should never have even given her the time to have a conversation. However Jesus stopped, He listened and changed that woman’s life. So much so that the woman went on to the town and changed others lives just by bringing them to Jesus. Sometimes, in guest services, the best thing we can do is be open to having a conversation with someone.
- Be on Mission – Leading People to Find and Follow Jesus. That is what we are all about. Everything we do as a church is to lead people to find and follow Jesus. Our Guest Services team is a critical and crucial piece to this mission. Within the team, it means we are training people to smile, be friendly, don’t hide behind doors but be expectant of people. Jesus had mission on this earth. Sure, his mission was a little different than ours, since we don’t have the ability to die on a cross and save every person from their sins, but Jesus was always on mission moving forward toward that Cross and that death that he didn’t deserve but also to the resurrection that changed lives then and continues to do so now.
- Love like Jesus – we have all heard the phrase – don’t judge a book by its cover. That is so true with people. Every Sunday, churches are flooded with people of different stories, backgrounds, mornings and jobs and families and jobs. Each of them come with baggage of some kind and we as a guest services team could never know what each and every person walks in the doors of the church with. Knowing that we would never be able to know what each person is carrying, we have to have the same mentality as Jesus and loving each person the way Jesus loved us.
Over the past several weeks, we have re-gathered here at Harvester Christian Church and it has been interesting to say the least. However if there is one thing that does not change even in the crazy season we are in, its the truth that:
We are the church, even in a pandemic.
So when you have the ability to be open to someone, to be on mission and to love like Jesus…..you are being the church.
The church was never designed or created to be a building or a gathering location. The church was designed to go out into the world and share the love of Jesus to anyone who would listen.
When we remember…. whether inside the church walls or inside a living room or on the side of the road….we have the ability to lead people to find and follow Jesus.
