“Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).
Online worship.
Meh. I know. It was cool for the first couple of weeks.
I know. Online worship is not the same thing as gathering in person as a congregation.
In light of the spiking Covid-19 cases in our area and around the country, I don’t see the Little Church and Lakewoodgrace opening up for full worship anytime soon.
Here’s the thing about worship. Worship is not something we can choose to opt out of. If God is God, if Jesus is our Savior, if we are Christians, worshiping God is one of the main things Christians do. We worship because God calls us to worship. We worship because worship is one of God’s tools to touch our hearts and lives. We worship because it is one of the best testimonies to a world who doesn’t know who God is.
As Jesus was entering into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked Jesus to order the disciples to stop. Listen to Jesus’ response: “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:40). Praising and worshiping is what we are called to do.
I know online worship is not the same as in person worship. But until a cure and a vaccine for covid-19 is available, this is what we’ve got.
Let me close with a story I came across on social media.
A lady went to her pastor and said, “I won’t be attending church anymore.”
“May I ask why?” the pastor inquired.
She said, “I see people on their cell phones during the service, some are gossiping, some just arent’ living right, they are all just hypocrites.
The pastor got silent and said, “Ok. But can I ask you to do something for me before you make your final decision?”
She said, “What’s that?”
He said, “Take a glass of water and walk around the church two times and don’t let any water fall out of the glass.”
She said, “Yes, I can do that.” She came back and said, “It’s done.”
He asked her three questions:
- Did you see anyone on their phone?
- Did you see anyone gossiping?
- Was anyone living wrong?
She said, “I didn’t see anything because I was so focused on this glass so the water wouldn’t fall.”
He told her, “When you come to church, you should be just that focused on God so that you don’t fall. That’s why Jesus said, ‘Follow me.’ He did not say follow Christians. Don’t let your relationship with God be determined by how others relate with God. Let it be determined by how focused you are on God.”
So, friends, when it comes to online worship what are you focused on?
Praxis: Faith in Action 