Observing the sluggard's formerly lush vineyard now a neglected field of weeds, thorns and broken walls, the compiler of Proverbs 24 tells us "I received instruction from what I saw".
Having observed the pandemic, the lockdown, the politicizing of mitigation measures, all the fallout, and too many hours of expert analysis, I've also received some instruction. It's very likely there are multiple lessons for me to learn, and I may miss some, but so far, from my vantage point within the church, I am seeing one feature of the Covid reality with startling, disturbing clarity.
It was intended as a dress rehearsal for the church.
I'm not sure what the Covid experience was supposed to have signaled to governments and public health officials, but I think God was telling people in the American church world that things will not always be as they've always been. We're crazy if we think we will be able to do church along the lines we've always been. Could the lockdown and shuttering of churches and church activities been God pushing us to explore new ways of doing church? Seriously.
Most institutional models of the church experience in the west are built on large group gatherings, property ownership, professional clergy, church loyalty and predictable giving patterns. For some time those models have been hemorrhaging, showing signs of unsustainability. The high rate of church closures and clergy resignations more than suggest as much. Leaders, understandably anxious to preserve their families, health and sanity, are quitting in frustration and exhaustion. The notable big box success of some churches is simply a refinement and honing of a church growth model from an earlier and much different era. You can only double down on a declining strategy for so long and some of the successes appear to be fading. The bigger the box, the more unsustainable it will become.
During lockdown some churches experimented with different ways to do church, some resisted and others just whimpered and waited. Maybe God intended us to use the time to prepare for the next thing. Will a future pandemic close us down again? It's more conceivable than ever. Could we be swamped by a different, unforeseen public health crisis? Nobody saw Covid coming. Persecution? There's plenty of precedent for it. Loss of tax exempt status would result in loss of church properties. A faltering economy would drive operating costs and insurance beyond the reach of many congregations. Things could change really fast, rendering church as we conceive it impossible.
Something else is coming. It won't always stay the same for church leaders. Those who've been at it awhile know change is the name of the game. They could tell you the dozens of ways church life has changed since they began. Bigger change is coming and what different, untried ways of doing church could be learned and adapted while we wait? House churches, small groups, prayer chains, work based prayer groups, live stream forums, podcasting, chat rooms, Zoom counseling and Bible studies could all prove sustainable options if our preferred way of doing church were no longer open to us.
The earliest church thrived without most of the trappings needed for our current institutional, centralized 1952 approach. An explosive first century Jesus movement had plenty of vicious opposition. It also had no designated church space and no large group gatherings. The Book of Acts cites almost seventy cases of first generation believer's use of public space - free space - to spread the message of good. Is a better, cheaper, untapped way of doing church staring us in the face?
Commanded by the resurrected Jesus in Acts 1:8, those who heard were reluctant to take the message to the wider world if it meant leaving the familiar, predictable pace of established Jerusalem church life. Persecution became the catalyst for them to scatter to Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth, living the words of their living Savior. They discerned a meaning and message in the discomfort.
If God intended lockdown to be a dress rehearsal in finding new ways to be the body of Christ in our broken world, many churches squandered the opportunity, absorbed in tangential dust-ups over violated rights and government overreach. Some wasted it sitting in courtrooms and cozying up to politicians. Others just sweated the thing out. Once again, it looks like it was His friends who missed the voice of God. It's enough to make you cry.
Rather than end on a note of crippling morosity, let me see if I can't salvage something worthwhile with this message to church leaders: it's not too late to try something new that's not dependent on a building or a big budget.
The wise person in Proverbs wasn't instructed accidentally. Instruction only came after he reflected on the broken walls and unproductive fields. Reflection on the last 20 months tells me it wasn't a one off. We're crazy if we think there aren't more surprises coming.
There's time to rethink the church. Now.
