The Viral Church
by Mark Stinton
There is something so alluring about the church as recorded in Acts.
The Divine fire that fueled them.
The miraculous events that sustained them.
The exponential growth that perpetuated them.
The incredible difficulties that people endured.
And of course, the viral community that anchored God’s new movement.
I don’t use that word to be cheeky. The sensational spread of this movement was alarmingly quick and powerful. It mimics the virus-like contagiousness we are currently experiencing. It was a threat to the Roman government, the Jewish hierarchy, and the existing power status quo at large. The world had to adjust to the surge of God’s new community, and as we know, the church had to endure over three hundred years of brutal persecutions before they could ground themselves in the freedom of expressing their faith. The church was created, however, to endure the pressings of this world. We have always been, indeed, the “set apart ones.”
The last few months have put the church in a bind. COVID-19 has functioned as a waking slap in the face to a comfortable American church. As a pastor, there have been tense dialogues as we distinguish a balance between respecting our authorities and the wisdom of global health recommendations and the higher calling we live under to meet, worship, pray, and eat together.
The church at large has seemingly responded to this tension by going to an online broadcast format. It’s a perfect compromise, right? We can practice social distancing and still produce the same service to our congregation. That’s the problem, though. The church was never meant to be a service (see The Person> Our Programs). Though I agree most public church meetings aren’t “essential gatherings,” I am convicted that small church meetings are.
Photo by David Weber on Unsplash
Without going too far on an ecclesiological rant, I’d say that the only redeeming factor about the Sunday production-oriented Western church is the intentional community it can still potentially create. The online broadcast church is a dangerous lure. To stream the service without the community element is to reemphasize an existing consumerist church attitude where our personal experience trumps the collective fellowship. As long as I get the message, I’m good, right? As long as I sing three worship songs, I’ll be set for the week, right?
These are not new concerns by any means. Even before the Coronavirus threat, people like Francis Chan, Tim Andrews, and countless others have been starting movements away from church growth-driven congregations with wary attitudes towards the current state of the church.
“My concern now is the desire I see in pastors and church leaders for their livestream to go viral, rather than their communities. ”
To be fair, I really appreciate all of the pastors I see on social media encouraging their flock, keeping people posted, and feeling connected. There are even small gatherings on platforms like Zoom and Facetime, where everyone can connect digitally. There is huge merit to technological opportunities to endure this stressful season. However, we need to keep technology in its place in the church: A temporary solution at best. Digital community is merely a façade of what we were designed to create.
My concern now is the desire I see in pastors and church leaders for their livestream to go viral, rather than their communities.
Missiologists (those who study the mission of God) continually ask the question, “What is God up to?” I have read posts and heard rants from Christians who will say, “This is a plague that God is sending!” as they quote their fitting Old Testament verses. And others who will say, “This is from the enemy, we must endure!” as they quote Pauline exhortations.
Which is true?
Where did this virus come from?
Why is it here?
I don’t think we are asking the right questions.
We may not know the Spiritual reason or origin of the Coronavirus, but we can rest in God’s promise that He will use all things for the good of those who love him and are called according to His purpose (the church). From Genesis to Revelation, we get to know a God who brings order to chaos. That’s who He is. Our heart check is whether we believe He will still do that in this circumstance.
I believe the right question for us right now is, “What is God doing with the Coronavirus?” Or maybe, “How will He use it for His Kingdom purposes?”
“Genuine faith begets genuine communities because faith is contagious. ”
Back in Acts and leading in the first few centuries, God used all kinds of external situations to grow and shape the church. Persecutions grew the flock. As Tertullian poignantly noted, “The blood of the martyr is the seed of the church.” Government regulations grew the church in the Roman empire, particularly with Constantine. Storms, plagues, disease, and the like have all contributed to greater responses of faith around the world. Genuine faith begets genuine communities because faith is contagious.
To speculate on one thing God may be doing with this virus here in the West, I believe He wants to reform his consumerist, self-indulging bride. As Ephesians 5 states, Christ loves His bride and gave his life for her so that she will be Holy and clean and without blemish in His sight. Could the Coronavirus be used to sanctify the church?
Even though regulations differ across the landscape, here is what has been suggested or mandated in a general sense:
No access to most public spaces.
No large groups meeting together.
Stay home as much as you can.
Don’t travel far.
Share, don’t hoard.
Find ways to serve those around you (particularly the elderly)
Protect others by using proper hygiene techniques.
Fill your time with shared activities at home with family.
If we connect some obvious dots there, it seems like God may be molding us back into a form of church, which has been mostly extinct in the West for a few centuries. Let’s chew on some potential possibilities together:
God could be using this extended quarantine season, which presumably could be over a year (Time article) to bring the church back into living rooms.
God could be transitioning the concept of “church” to be expressed foremost through smaller gatherings.
God could be making putting the table at the core of the church again, replacing the pulpit.
God could be using regulations to keep us in small groups so that the intentionality of our relationships will increase.
God may be seeking the lost in our immediate families as we get quarantined with them.
God may be taking church consumers, whom He loves, and shaping them into cruciform community leaders.
The list could go on. The point is, God’s heart to reconcile all people unto Himself is still alive and active. Though church forms change, the mission never does. If we prayerfully considered major shifts in church form, I wonder how God would show up.
Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash
Some will argue for more strict forms of isolation (Huffpost article), but we know biblically, how important it is for us to meet, spiritually speaking. Taking responsibility for our community’s general health is the best way we can love people right now, but I also want to contend for making space to meet with a few brothers and sisters in the faith in health-conscious ways. I want to contend for responding in love, not fear. Zoom meetings cannot replace the vulnerable and thankful spirit generated by breaking bread together.
Note, there are places in the world right now where mandatory isolation is required. Should we be gathering against the will of the government? It’s hard to say. There may be cases where it is needed, but for most of us, living in faith is also living with the greater responsibility of enduring quarantine. However, some make the case that we ought to fix our eyes on the heavenly aspects of faith, as if meeting and eating and praying together is strictly carnal. That’s not the case. Let’s not minimize the spiritual importance of being one with each other, just as Christ is one with the father (John 17). Regardless of the situation we are in at the moment, there is probably at least one person in our dwellings that we are capable of being more intentional with.
Photo by Erika Giraud on Unsplash
Health regulations (quarantine protocol) are meant to exist for the public's benefit and obeying them is an act of love. However, meeting in person is a crucial part of the church which creates tension with the above statement. So the question arises, can we find ways to meet that still abide by those rules?
If there is no one in your home with you, can we find a few people to safely interact with? Does this go against health regulations? IF this thing lasts over a year, we can't stay digital that long. The church needs some human interaction in that time.
Online Church is a satisfactory and only a temporary solution to the abrupt changes the world has seen in a matter of weeks. People all over the globe now have access to hearing the Gospel from thousands of churches. Beyond evangelism, though, our expectation for the church is to foster rich, meaningful gatherings for new believers to call home. Where we truly feel the family dynamic of the Kingdom and can live out our new heavenly citizenship. My prayer is that we would be open to hearing if God truly wants to reform our flawed version of church and if this is the time to do so. Online church is okay but there is something better: meeting in person with those whom we share living space with. In other words, the family is becoming the church this season.
I can’t tell you how many times I hear people plea to God for revival, but when refining fire shows up, we shutter into the ever-asleep version of Christ’s body that we’re used to.
Is a revival possible here? I think so. It’s not comfortable nor convenient. It would take a lot of deconstructional unity across all congregations. It would take a holy discontentment with how we experience Christ in the church now. We must desire more.
More truth.
More depth.
More transformation.
More unity.
More of Christ.
It would be an absolute shame if one day we look back at this global pandemic and can’t see what God did in and through it. It would be tragic if the church continued in her blemishes because we broadcasted our comfortable programs without utilizing this time to shift our paradigm of church at large.
Calling out a good time for church reformation was never even an ounce of thought in my head until I started seeing its current form in a global pinch.
My prayer is continually to see God’s people follow His voice, wherever it may lead, even at the broad, cultural, and strategic levels of church.
My prayer is for an increase of more personal Jesus encounters in smaller, intentional communities.
My prayer is that online church services would supplement these gatherings, not distract from them.
My prayer is that the Coronavirus would make the church viral again.
Resources
We’ve created a free downloadable PDF to explore the article deeper. It contains discussion questions about the topic in general terms that will give you a jumping-off point for beginning a conversation.
The second page contains a way to see the topic from a biblical perspective.
And finally, to go deeper into the subject, we have chosen a few curated resources to explore from other authors’ and thinkers’ research or perspectives.
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