Being the Church When the World is Falling Apart
The year 2020 keeps throwing us more curve balls, doesn’t it? On top of the COVID pandemic and all the uncertainty, anxiety and division wrapped up in that, now we have the disturbing and horrifying death of George Floyd resulting in major civil unrest, marches, demonstrations and violence in our cities.
It helps me to remember that God has a plan - we’re not drifting aimlessly on the planet, left to the winds of chance. One thing I’ve been finding is that as a Christian, there’s a tension between figuring out how to live in the world in its current state while at the same time seeing the circumstances as an opportunity to be God’s ambassador.
God uses situations like COVID and civil unrest to get people’s attention - both Christian and non Christian. For Christians, it can be a wake up call to take our faith seriously and really start pursuing our relationship with God on a deeper level than before. When the foundations that we find comfort in are shaken, we are forced to reevaluate what those foundations are and how firmly they hold when life gets rocky.
It’s kind of like the story in Matthew 7:24-27. The one who built his house on the rock wasn’t moved when the storm came, but the one who built on sand had everything wiped away. If we find our comfort and security in things that are not of God, then we are devastated when the storm comes. It forces us to rebuild our lives on a more solid foundation.
For the person who does not know Christ, times like this can cause them to look to God, realizing that they don’t have their lives as under control as they thought they did. We can all become very self-reliant until the bottom falls out. Suddenly we find that maybe we don’t have life figured out after all.
As the church universal, the Body of Christ, what is our role in all this?
It can be easy to retreat to our corners and just take care of our own. We can give in to fear, anxiety, and anger, follow the conspiracy theories and search endlessly for answers on who to blame. I believe we’re called to more than that. We know that God has this under control. He loves us and has our best and His glory jointly in mind. Nothing happens to us that is out of His control. We are told over and over not to fear, not to be anxious and in our anger, not to sin. We know where we’re going when we die. There is no worse case scenario for us - to live is Christ and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21)
We need to view our current circumstances with that eternal perspective. We should be wise and discerning as we figure out how to navigate living in these times. While being wise, though, we need to live above the fear, anxiety and anger. Don’t give in to those things, but keep an eternal perspective. Continually seek God to see what purpose He has for you during this time. How can we serve our neighbors or reach out to them with the message of hope and peace in Christ?
“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:20)
How can we use this very unique situation to be Christ’s ambassadors?
Here are some practical ideas:
1. Check in with your neighbors and acquaintances. Because everything is so wacky, people are more open to being honest about how they’re doing. Many feel very isolated and would welcome a call or text to reconnect. Offer to pray for them if they’re having trouble dealing with things. It’s a non confrontational thing to do and many times people really appreciate it, regardless of their beliefs. It can open up doors for further spiritual discussion.
2. Be willing to help meet physical needs. Some are without jobs, others could use childcare while they try to work from home. A meal, a couple hours of childcare or a grocery gift card can go a long way.
3. If your situation allows, offer to go shopping for someone who is at high risk from the virus and worried about going out in public.
4. Pray for your pastors and those in leadership and find ways to support and encourage them. This is a super challenging time to be in leadership. With any decision leaders make, many are going strongly and loudly disagree with them. Not to mention that the decisions leaders make could directly impact the health and safety of those around them. On top of that, reliable data with which to make those decisions is very difficult to find and discern.
5. Be gentle with your own opinions. To wear a mask, to not wear a mask, to open up stores and churches or not, vaccines, the reasons behind racial violence and the solution to racism… The strong opinions and feelings about these things are endless. It’s fine to have opinions, but don’t let them become divisive. Love others more than your own opinions about things. You may need to keep quiet about what you think or at least turn down the intensity in order to be a person of peace.
My personal opinion is that these are all important conversations to have, but they’re better done in person rather than on social media. Social media is great for many things, but having meaningful dialog about very emotional, sensitive, divisive ideas is not one of them.
Our primary goal as Christians should be to glorify God and win others to Christ. If our social media posts aren’t accomplishing those things, perhaps we should rethink posting them.
In all of this, keeping an eternal perspective will help us to both manage our own emotions and reactions, as well as give us a vision for how God can use us to bring others to Him. I believe we’ve all been put here “for such a time as this.” (Esther 4:14)
Heavenly Father, there’s so much going on in our world right now. We need to figure out how to live in the midst of it and keep ourselves and our families safe. But we also know that You are in control. You love us and care for us. Show us how to be Your ambassadors and bring Your hope to those You’re preparing. Lead us to those who are ready to hear about You.