Joe Schory started school this past fall.  Because of the pandemic, all his classes have been exclusively online.  The very first day, his mother sat him in front of the computer screen and helped make the connection.  As his teacher got into her lesson, Joe’s mother tiptoed out of the room to do a brief chore.  She was gone for less than five minutes, but when she returned, she discovered her son was watching a movie.  “What are you doing?” the mother demanded.  “I’m tired of listening to her!  She’s boring!” the boy retorted.

Most would agree that a six-year-old child has a poor understanding of what school is really about.  School isn’t always entertaining or exciting.  School isn’t just about what you want to do at the moment. It is learning to sit still and listen. It is about respecting the teacher’s authority, interacting with other kids, and learning people-skills as well as memorizing facts.  We instinctively know that online grade school doesn’t get the job done.  Relationships are a vital part of education.

The same principle applies to the church.  Online services have been a tremendous blessing during the Covid shutdown.  They have provided expanded opportunities for evangelism and enabled elderly and unhealthy members to stay connected with their church while protecting themselves from the virus.  But we deceive ourselves if we conclude online church is somehow an acceptable substitute for actually attending a worship service.  It’s not the same.  It’s not close to being the same.

There’s a big difference between visiting with your fiancé on the phone and being together in person. There’s a big difference between watching a service on a screen and joining with others in corporate worship.  Just humming along or tapping your foot to a praise song, gulping down a small wafer and drinking a spot of juice, and then casually listening to a sermon is not a satisfactory substitute for participating in a worship service.

There’s a humorous meme from a satirical website. It shows two images.  The first caption reads, “How the preacher imagines us worshipping online.”  That cartoon portrays a family of four seated on the couch in front of a big-screen television, all totally engaged in the worship service, their hands raised as they join in the singing.  The second drawing is captioned, “What actually is happening online.”  It shows a bedraggled middle-aged woman lying in bed in her pajamas watching her home church live stream on her cell phone while smoking a cigarette.

I know that’s not always the case. And I know online services have been the right choice for those most vulnerable to catching the virus.  But it is much too easy to conclude, “I’m tired of listening to that guy,” and turn the channel…or glance at text messages.

A huge part of being a member of God’s church is having fellowship with others and being accountable to one another.  That is why small groups, Sunday school classes, fellowship dinners, choirs, church softball teams, and mission trips are so important.  The Apostle Paul compared the church to a body where each member was dependent on the other.

Think of all the “one-another” passages in the Bible.  Love one another. Be devoted to one another. Honor one another above yourselves. Live in harmony with one another. Admonish one another. Serve one another. Bear one another’s burdens. Forgive one another.  Even singing was not intended to be an isolated worship experience.  We are told to “speak to one another with psalms, hymns, spiritual songs” (Ephesians 5:19).   

Last month a clerk related to me that she became a Christian while going through a bitter divorce.  She wandered into a church service as a complete stranger, feeling very much alone.  Spotting a vacant seat near the back of the crowded room, she sat down.  She felt the presence of the Holy Spirit so strongly during the early part of the service that tears streamed down her cheeks.  A few minutes later, an older woman seated next to her reached over and patted her on the knee and simply said, “You’re in the right place.”

The next week she came back and thought, “I hope I see that same woman.”  It just so happened there was a seat right next to the woman, and the two exchanged a warm greeting. She found herself praying, “I wish I could call this person and talk with her,” but she didn’t have the nerve to ask the woman for her contact information.  After the service, the woman spontaneously handed her a scrap of paper with her phone number and whispered, “Please feel free to call me if I can ever help you.”  That led to a deepening relationship, needed encouragement, and an eventual baptism.

I know there are some exciting stories of things happening online, but there is something special about a spirit-filled worship service.  There is a good reason why the Bible commands, “Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together…”  Good things happen when you ride to church together as a family, listen to a sermon surrounded by other believers, take the Lord’s supper, and sing worship songs together with others.  All those activities are enhanced when done corporately.

Pastors, we’re to be shepherds of the flock that is under our care.  That means we have a responsibility to try to reclaim the strays because they are vulnerable to all kinds of spiritual dangers when they attempt to survive this hostile culture alone.  Let’s not rationalize, “They are part of our online church, and that’s sufficient.”  Instead, let’s remind them they need to participate in the body, not just for what they receive but for what they contribute to others.  The church needs them!

Every shut-in who worships online will tell you that they wish they could be present in person.  So, don’t equate online service with those who attend.  Make a distinction between attendance online and in-person.  Don’t treat them as equivalencies.  When you address those watching online, encourage those who are capable of returning to worship services to do so.  God may be using the pandemic to purge the church of complacency.  Don’t make His task more difficult by endorsing it.

Let’s be grateful for online services, which are a Godsend for those who are incapable of attending.  But if you’re healthy and watching church online has become “lazy church” for you, it’s time to muster the courage to get back to church.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

.

Follow BobRussellKY on Twitter and LIKE the Bob Russell page on Facebook