Some of my fondest childhood memories are from the times that my brother and I would face off on the Nintendo or Playstation video game system. This is a fond memory for me because I mostly won. We would wake up early on the weekend and start first thing in the morning; it was NBA Jam before breakfast. Even though I would win most games sometimes my brother would sneak up on me for a victory. However, sometimes when one of us would get angry, because that is what happens when brothers compete (see Cain & Able), we would reach toward the gaming console and hit the reset button before the other brother could stop this unforgivable sin. Generally once the reset button was hit it was game over, usually because a fight would break out.
Our current situation is very unique. A couple of things are happening to us as we are quarantined for the most part to our homes. First, we are taking account of what is really important. It is not often that we universally all have the opportunity, or are going through the same trail that makes us take into account what we prioritize in our lives. This trial of the COVID-19 virus is giving us that opportunity. Second, it is not often that on a daily basis we are faced with a trial that makes us consider life, death & eternity. Daily we see reports of hundreds of thousands of people being diagnosed with this virus and the death toll continues to grow. When we hear these facts it should and I believe does trouble our soul, this should cause us to take into account how we will spend eternity.
Priorities & Church
Who could have predicted that we would be on almost a month now of not gathering together and realistically there is nothing that would imply that we will be gathering in the next month or so. No one could have predicted that for the most part gathering and worshipping together as the church would come to a full stop. As I think about what I miss as we gather there are many things, but at the top of the list are: singing hymns together, hearing the pages of Bibles turn as I announce the days text, the Sunday nights that we would gather for our prayer meetings and hearing others lead us in prayer, and as we gathered to take the Lord’s Supper there is always a time that I am able to look out over the congregation as they sit in prayer before their Jesus. All those times are precious moments of real worship.
We can let ourselves get caught up in many nonessential things in the life of the church. Whether it is traditions of the past or hopes for the future, the agendas we focus on as we can see now are fleeting. The testimony of Scripture is that any work that we put our hand to that is not Christ honoring and Church edifying will burn in that last day when presented before our Lord (1 Corinthians 3:10-15). Through this trial that we now exist in the Lord is painting the clearest picture for us. The church at this moment stands completely stripped clean of all our worldly adornment, all or our outward aesthetics and what are we left with, just Jesus and His Word. Do we need anything else? God in His mercy, in His grace, is pointing us home. Our Lord is being faithful to His people to rid us of anything that could lead to or is idolatry and calling us to repentance and worship.
Comfort & Eternity
It is easy not to think about eternal things, if we can flow through life without giving much thought about death or what happens after that we would be ok with that. However, when a global pandemic hits and the death toll rises day-by-day our thoughts cannot help but to be thrusted toward the eternal. So here we are, the reality is that this virus is a serious thing, my intention is not to add worry but to expose reality. The Apostle Paul in Philippians reminds us to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling…” as Christians we should think about eternity, we should think deeply about it. We should always be setting our faith on the scales of Scripture and asking the Lord to examine our faith. This is not a version of Christianity that negates assurance but the opposite. If we have been truly converted and are walking with the Lord then it is assurance that the Lord would reveal this to us, but if not we need to know so that we do not continue to stumble in darkness.
Now Is the Time to Press the Button
As I reminisced above about how in my brother’s and my competitive video games the reset button was always off limits, that is not so now. It is the time to press the button. The opportunity for the slate to be wiped clean does not often happen, for our current context within the church it has not happened. I think it would be wise for all Christians, everywhere, to examine ourselves, our own motives. For us all between now and when we will gather again to truly ask the question, “Why do we gather, What do you miss about church?” My hope is that the Lord is reprioritizing our life of worship for us, that the main thing will be the main thing again. Also, that Christians and non-Christians will take into account what eternity will look like. It is always wise for Christians to think of eternity, the hope we have now we will then know as we see Jesus face-to-face. For ones that are not sure of their eternal destination, that they would consider Jesus, that God would use this avenue of our current trial to have a non-believer ask us about the hope in us.
As we think about all that we have, all that we have known, all we could gain, and all we could lose, I am left with one thought: You can have all this world….Just give me Jesus.
A Time to Reset
A Time to Reset
Some of my fondest childhood memories are from the times that my brother and I would face off on the Nintendo or Playstation video game system. This is a fond memory for me because I mostly won. We would wake up early on the weekend and start first thing in the morning; it was NBA Jam before breakfast. Even though I would win most games sometimes my brother would sneak up on me for a victory. However, sometimes when one of us would get angry, because that is what happens when brothers compete (see Cain & Able), we would reach toward the gaming console and hit the reset button before the other brother could stop this unforgivable sin. Generally once the reset button was hit it was game over, usually because a fight would break out.
Our current situation is very unique. A couple of things are happening to us as we are quarantined for the most part to our homes. First, we are taking account of what is really important. It is not often that we universally all have the opportunity, or are going through the same trail that makes us take into account what we prioritize in our lives. This trial of the COVID-19 virus is giving us that opportunity. Second, it is not often that on a daily basis we are faced with a trial that makes us consider life, death & eternity. Daily we see reports of hundreds of thousands of people being diagnosed with this virus and the death toll continues to grow. When we hear these facts it should and I believe does trouble our soul, this should cause us to take into account how we will spend eternity.
Priorities & Church
Who could have predicted that we would be on almost a month now of not gathering together and realistically there is nothing that would imply that we will be gathering in the next month or so. No one could have predicted that for the most part gathering and worshipping together as the church would come to a full stop. As I think about what I miss as we gather there are many things, but at the top of the list are: singing hymns together, hearing the pages of Bibles turn as I announce the days text, the Sunday nights that we would gather for our prayer meetings and hearing others lead us in prayer, and as we gathered to take the Lord’s Supper there is always a time that I am able to look out over the congregation as they sit in prayer before their Jesus. All those times are precious moments of real worship.
We can let ourselves get caught up in many nonessential things in the life of the church. Whether it is traditions of the past or hopes for the future, the agendas we focus on as we can see now are fleeting. The testimony of Scripture is that any work that we put our hand to that is not Christ honoring and Church edifying will burn in that last day when presented before our Lord (1 Corinthians 3:10-15). Through this trial that we now exist in the Lord is painting the clearest picture for us. The church at this moment stands completely stripped clean of all our worldly adornment, all or our outward aesthetics and what are we left with, just Jesus and His Word. Do we need anything else? God in His mercy, in His grace, is pointing us home. Our Lord is being faithful to His people to rid us of anything that could lead to or is idolatry and calling us to repentance and worship.
Comfort & Eternity
It is easy not to think about eternal things, if we can flow through life without giving much thought about death or what happens after that we would be ok with that. However, when a global pandemic hits and the death toll rises day-by-day our thoughts cannot help but to be thrusted toward the eternal. So here we are, the reality is that this virus is a serious thing, my intention is not to add worry but to expose reality. The Apostle Paul in Philippians reminds us to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling…” as Christians we should think about eternity, we should think deeply about it. We should always be setting our faith on the scales of Scripture and asking the Lord to examine our faith. This is not a version of Christianity that negates assurance but the opposite. If we have been truly converted and are walking with the Lord then it is assurance that the Lord would reveal this to us, but if not we need to know so that we do not continue to stumble in darkness.
Now Is the Time to Press the Button
As I reminisced above about how in my brother’s and my competitive video games the reset button was always off limits, that is not so now. It is the time to press the button. The opportunity for the slate to be wiped clean does not often happen, for our current context within the church it has not happened. I think it would be wise for all Christians, everywhere, to examine ourselves, our own motives. For us all between now and when we will gather again to truly ask the question, “Why do we gather, What do you miss about church?” My hope is that the Lord is reprioritizing our life of worship for us, that the main thing will be the main thing again. Also, that Christians and non-Christians will take into account what eternity will look like. It is always wise for Christians to think of eternity, the hope we have now we will then know as we see Jesus face-to-face. For ones that are not sure of their eternal destination, that they would consider Jesus, that God would use this avenue of our current trial to have a non-believer ask us about the hope in us.
As we think about all that we have, all that we have known, all we could gain, and all we could lose, I am left with one thought: You can have all this world….Just give me Jesus.