Every day there was a different iteration of posts from the self-appointed pandemic judge who seemed to be on a frantic mission to get people to gather. “Restrictions have been lifted! Why are people acting like we’re still in lockdown? Why are they going everywhere except church?”
I thought about it. Maybe they don’t want to. Maybe they don’t feel safe. Maybe they’re not going because a global pandemic is still in full swing. Maybe they’re cautious because they’ve seen images and heard horror stories coming from places that reopened too soon. Maybe they’ve heard about new variants, and can’t trust that people will be honest about their vaccination statuses.
Maybe they won’t be coming back, when all is said and done, because, by the dismissive, unsympathetic, and irresponsible words and actions they’ve been bombarded with throughout the pandemic, they realize that their wellbeing had previously been sacrificed so that they could continue to contribute to the lifestyles of leaders who are wealthy and out of touch. Maybe they’ve come to the realization that God didn’t build what’s constantly being peddled. Maybe they’re tired of the grift and the show.
The coronavirus pandemic gave people boundaries they never thought to impose; a buffer from churchy, but biblically unsound rhetoric. It gave them a chance to step back and evaluate every aspect of the dysfunctional enterprises of which they’d been a part. They finally had an opportunity to see it objectively; without any religious or denominational manipulation. They saw many people die who’d played down the severity of the virus— people whose faith they believed was greater and firmer than their own. Their eyes were opened. They realized how controlled, oppressed, and even hoodwinked they had been. They realized how shallow their Sabbath days had been; how exhausting and unfulfilling the weekly demands were. They’d overextended themselves to the detriment of their own families.
At home, during the pandemic, their own faith was tested; their relationship with God was established, or revived. They were reminded that HE is intelligent, and simply wasn’t making the demands on them that had been attributed to Him. Their blind allegiance to, and support of narcissistic hustlers was severed. They’d been weaned from obligation to something that only took from them, distorted the Bible, and turned them into self righteousness bigots and hypocrites. Their own families and communities became the priorities they should have always been. They questioned whether they’d ever known what “service” meant, and who was being served. They noticed and began to help the poor they’d previously looked down upon, or ignored as they hurried to “church”. They realized they were rich in fluff, but lacking in substance. They learned to pray, study, sing, give, and worship without provocation or an audience. They embraced small group fellowship. They read. They discovered excellent teachers. They concluded that their time, energy, and resources could be better spent in actual godly endeavors. They determined that they won’t be shamed or guilted into accepting business as usual. They learned that they ARE the church. They have been made free. If they go back to buildings, it will be to places and spaces where God and God alone is the center of attention; where genuine, consistent service to others, is now the rule, not the occasional exception.
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