The Church has been Deployed
I like some of the memes because they give me food for thought for my blogs. For those who aren’t 100% sure what a “meme” is, Merriam-Webster says a meme is “an amusing or interesting item (such as a captioned picture or video) or genre of items that is spread widely online, especially through social media.”
One came along during quarantine that struck a chord: “The church has left the building”. We have found that we ARE the church as we and our families are conducting church in our homes! And this one, I loved: “Yes, the Church is empty. But, so is the tomb!” And, “The Church isn’t empty. The Church has been deployed.”
The Church really has been deployed. Here we are on another Sunday and most churches are closed, but pastors and priests will be leading church services again via technological resources that have provided the opportunity to sit in our homes and watch online services given by a skeleton crew – a few people to lead in singing and speaking – all social distanced and looking into monitors to make sure their live feed is streaming to their audiences at home.
Has a sleeping giant been awakened? It seems a larger family of faith has arisen out of the chaos. I’m hearing reports of more people coming into the Family of God through the saving power of Jesus during these times. And, isn’t it something that this time is paralleling with what happened after Jesus was resurrected? In Acts we read about how the Church was deployed and when the “new and improved” Peter, after Pentecost, spoke about our risen Lord, over 3,000 people came to Christ in one day. I heard Pastor Craig Groeschel of Life.Church say that since quarantine, over 240,000 people made a declaration of faith in Christ via their livestream.
I seriously believe that God is doing something in a quick matter-of-time far beyond what man can do in a lifetime. Our buildings may still sit empty, but the Body of Crhist is more active than ever. Just look at us! We are still the Church triumphant and we’re alive and well – no matter whether we’re together at the same time or apart. The Good News of Jesus is still being proclaimed! Aw! Yes! That’s what Jesus meant when He said: “Truly, I tell all of you, the one who believes in me will also do what I’m doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I’m going to the Father.” (John 14:12) Today the good news of Jesus is going around the world – even though church buildings might be closed.
It seems that the coronavirus really did awaken a sleeping giant. It may have kept us from meeting together, but it has brought the broader family of faith together and has engaged the army of God’s people in a way that has not been seen in my lifetime. Indeed THE CHURCH has been deployed!