“For God so loved the world He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” John chapter 3 verse 16, The Bible
The post-pandemic hangover
Our local GP practice has a post-pandemic hangover. It still continues to put every obstacle in the way of us seeing a doctor in person. It only wants to deal with us online or over the phone. I’m concerned that our health is suffering as a result.
Is the spiritual health of your church also suffering from a hangover? Has your congregation returned to its pre-pandemic numbers? Have some people become habituated to only attending online? Would you know what state of spiritual health they’re in? Would they?
“Am I really a Christian?”, written 12 years ago by Mike McKinley, might not seem the obvious source of help for a post-pandemic hangover. I was only reading it to check if it might help a sensitive believer struggling with assurance (it wouldn’t). But the book has given me a new understanding of the spiritual healthcare role Jesus has entrusted to the local church. It’s the best thing on this subject that I’ve read. I’ll let the book speak for itself.
“You need other Christians who are committed to your spiritual well-being. They are the ones who will be able to get to know you and identify the fruit of the new birth in your life. If you are prone to discouragement and self-condemnation, they may be able to encourage you.”
“Being involved in a local church is immensely helpful…First, sitting under the preaching of God’s word helps to align our values and measurements with God’s…Second, watching the example of other believers makes obedience to God seem normal and possible in a world where sin is normally accepted and even celebrated. Third, letting other Christians know us (our attitudes, our conduct, our struggles) gives them the opportunity to speak into our lives. That way, they can warn us about worrisome patterns of sin or encourage us when we are feeling overwhelmed by our struggles.”
“… if local churches were doing their job … books like this one might not be necessary. This is where church membership comes in. Churches should be made up of people who are genuinely converted. In that sense, one function of church membership is to give assurance of salvation. Being a church member means the church believes that your profession of faith is credible. That’s why the church has baptised you, gives you the Lord’s Supper, and has not disciplined you. Another function of church membership is to show the world what it means to be a true Christian, since it excludes unbelievers and false professors from membership.”
“In a world that is skeptical and cynical, it’s helpful, no, necessary, to have regular contact with likeminded believers, even if only to be reminded that you are not crazy for believing this stuff.”
“Life in the church helps us hate sin, and it helps us to help others hate sin.”
“…one of the main reasons that so many professing Christians either do not attend church or avoid committing to one particular congregation [is that] being in a church requires love. It requires selflessness. It requires us to put the interests of others ahead of our own (Phil. 2:3-4). They simply do not want to be inconvenienced by having to love other Christians.”
Online church services, talks and prayer meetings kept us going during the lockdowns. They remain invaluable for the house-bound, carers, shift workers, and the like. They are a lifeline for isolated believers in countries where churches are suppressed. You wouldn’t be reading this without the internet. But a screen is a poor substitute for meeting and purposefully engaging with those we love in The Lord. “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another- and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25)
Quotes from “Am I really a Christian?”, Mike McKinley, Crossway, Wheaton Illinois, 2011
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