One Day in the Life of an Open City Church During the Pandemic

Disclaimer: My view expressed here does not necessarily represent the respective views of other AMI pastors.

My recent blogs about reopening churches drew several disapproving responses. One objector charged that “churches are considered non-essential because [they] don't care for the widows and orphans; [they] don't feed the hungry or cloth the naked.” Along that line, another added, “I haven't heard of any of our churches reaching out to the community around them.” The more stinging comment was questioning the motive behind reopening: “so that the church . . . can feel better” said one; “to fulfill their ‘feel good’ needs,” said another.
 
If they are right, then reopening churches is selfish even if the pandemic looked far worse in March than today. On March 3, WHO had the reported case fatality rate from COVID-19 at 3.4%; by May 22 CDC adjusted the infection fatality rate to 0.26%. And this week CDC reported that only 6% of all COVID-related deaths is solely attributable to coronavirus. 
 
Regardless, while virtual service for the elderlies and the infirmed (and the ones caring for them) should continue, I appeal to those who are neither sick nor aged and also agree with my objectors: Would you reconsider in light of what happened at one city church that is open this past weekend?
 
On Friday evening, as I entered Canvas City Church for a time of prayer and praise, I saw several people speaking to an unfamiliar person. I was told that “Rob” walked into this storefront church, seeing that its front door was left open due to COVID. Apparently, Rob was talking to God about whether he should go to rehab again, or just end his life. But, when he heard the music and saw that we were a church, he felt that God was telling him to go to rehab. 
Upon entering, he was approached by a recovered addict who encouraged him with timely words and prayer. Rob stayed for the entire meeting in which the whole church, including those online, prayed for him. We hope to see him again after he completes the rehab. 
 
Actually, passerby dropping in is getting to be a thing. A few Fridays ago, as we were having a pre-service meal, a young man was snooping around to see what had happened to the restaurant that was once there. When we waved at him to join us for dinner, he did! Although he didn’t stay for the service, we shared food, laugher and encouraging words with him. He left smiling! 
 
And on Sunday, most of 25 people who worshiped the Lord passionately in a physical service stayed behind to pick up trash around the neighborhood (worsened by inconsistent trash service). Within an hour, enough trash, including discarded syringes, were gathered to fill 18 large glad bags (which we took home to dispose). In between picking up debris, we gave out a gift pack containing a mask and hand sanitizer with an invitation to church, and a reminder that God loves them. Everyone we met was so grateful for our care for the community. None objected to our church being open; and no one said NO when we invited them to church.
 
In fact, I would bet that none of the people who received much needed food and prayer at our sister church in California, which runs bi-weekly food pantry ministry, objected to that church being open. As a matter of fact, my son who is involved in that ministry told me that people were grateful for a church that cared for both their physical and spiritual needs. 
 
No, not all churches are essential to the world; for instance, some that have long forsaken the gospel aren’t. Even so, many churches understand that we exist “not to please ourselves” but God, and then “please [our] neighbor for [their] good” (Rom. 15:1-2). But unless churches are open, the people in the community who need the Lord will be left hanging. 
 
So how can we please God? This is where many get their priorities mixed up. Before saying, “By helping the poor,” recognize that something else comes first. First and foremost, we please God through worshiping Him, which is carried out principally by the way of “proskuneō” and “latreia,” respectively. 
 
In Greek, “proskuneō” literally means “to kiss, like a dog licking his master’s hand”—its implication being “to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence.” Thus, worship is more than merely listening to sermons and singing songs; rather, it’s paying homage to the One whom we revere and love. And God prescribed this is to be offered in a corporate setting. 
 
That’s how it was done in the OT when “Erza praised the LORD . . . all the people lifted their hands and responded, ‘Amen! Amen!’ Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground” (Neh. 8:6). And that’s how it will be in heaven: “Twenty-four elders fall down before [God] who sits on the throne, and worship him” (Rev. 4:10). Worship is a spiritual performance rendered unto the King; a corporate body gathered to perform for the audience of One. And when God is pleased then we feel good.
 
We’ve been doing virtual worship out of necessity but if we ignore the warning of Neil Postman (a.k.a., the secular C.S. Lewis), we do so at our own peril. He said: “It is naïve to suppose that something that has been expressed in one form can be expressed in another without significantly changing its meaning . . . Not everything is televisible . . . [Don’t] assume that what had formerly been done in a church . . . and face-to-face, can be done on television (screen) without loss of meaning, without changing the quality of the religious experience.” So, to one objector who wondered “why there is such an urgency to meet in person for church.” I say it stems from offering the kind of worship God has long prescribed.
 
After that comes “latreia,” rendered in Romans 12:2 as “your spiritual act of worship,” which is expressed through “offer[ing] your bodies as living sacrifices.” This is worshiping God by doing good deeds like helping the poor (a.k.a., social justice). But note what Jesus said to his disciples who rebuked a woman for wasting expensive perfume to wash Jesus’ feet: “The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me” (Mk. 14:7). What the disciples then and the government today view as waste (i.e., nonessential) is the “proskuneō” worship rendered unto God, and it should always come first and then social justice. 
 
Be warned that, historically, once “latreia” is privileged over “proskuneō,” it won’t be long before social justice supplants the gospel of justice altogether. And that’s precisely when the church will become nonessential because “the world can do anything the church can do except one thing: it cannot show grace” (Yancey); that is, how to be right before God through faith in divine grace revealed in Christ. That’s what makes the church essential to the world that desperately needs it.