Spare me the arguments about temporary realities and no need to meet in person. It seems antithetical to scripture to keep people from a) gathering, and b) worshipping corporately.

You don't.

Posted this essay in the "Has your church opened back up..." thread -

A Wafer-Thin Practice
by Hans Boersma - First Things

I miss a few things but those two are the top of the list by a large margin.

I've missed a bunch of things. I find myself consumed with negative emotions often during this. I need people around me to lighten me up.

We spent most of our energy convincing post-modernists that taking a walk in the woods, reading the Bible on your own, being in a Bible study, or watching Joel on TV aren't the same as church. Now we can't go to church, and it feels like we've got to reverse the argument. It feels dishonest that you can still have church with zoom meetings, social distancing, etc.

The problem is when you limit the definition of the church to the Eucharist or the corporate gathering. We have to remember that the church is the Body of Christ, and that means WAY more than corporate meeting. In short, it means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. BECAUSE - the true definition of the church is that it is the place where all of the spiritual gifts are present. The church is where we use those gifts to edify the Body. When cut ourselves off from the corporate gathering, we deprive the Body of our gifts.

In this time of distancing, maybe instead of writing tomes to lament our lack of corporate gathering, or to petulantly argue about how we are being oppressed by these light restrictions, we should be exploring how to use our gifts as part of the Body.

The apostles and missionaries spent most of their lives away from the local church, and often away from church at all, but they are still practicing their gifts to edify the Body.

Excellent post. The problem I have is I don't feel very connected to my church right now. Sure I've done the digital gatherings but videos calls are awkward and unnatural. It seems my church thinks as long as I'm learning and hearing sermons I'm fine. Everything is focused on knowing everything there is to know about the Bible and much less on lifting each other up in prayer.

dermdoc said:

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The only two things I have missed through this stuff is live church and Aggie baseball.

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I miss hearing you yell at blues in Olsen

The Debt said:

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dermdoc said:

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The only two things I have missed through this stuff is live church and Aggie baseball.

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I miss hearing you yell at blues in Olsen

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We were supposed to be watching the Ags play Missouri this weekend. I have a friend who played on the '89 team. He and his wife live near Springfield,Mo and we were going to fly up Wednesday then drive up Thursday to Columbia to watch the games.

I know that is a small deal compared to church but still stinks.

When Olsen opens back up, let's go have a pitcher at NG and thank God for the fellowship.

dermdoc said:

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The Debt said:

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dermdoc said:

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The only two things I have missed through this stuff is live church and Aggie baseball.

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I miss hearing you yell at blues in Olsen

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We were supposed to be watching the Ags play Missouri this weekend. I have a friend who played on the '89 team. He and his wife live near Springfield,Mo and we were going to fly up Wednesday then drive up Thursday to Columbia to watch the games.

I know that is a small deal compared to church but still stinks.

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Baseball is never a small deal. I have acquaintances who would argue my true faith is the Church of Baseball.

Frok said:

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Excellent post. The problem I have is I don't feel very connected to my church right now. Sure I've done the digital gatherings but videos calls are awkward and unnatural. It seems my church thinks as long as I'm learning and hearing sermons I'm fine. Everything is focused on knowing everything there is to know about the Bible and much less on lifting each other up in prayer.

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In our overall lives, Covid hasn't changed a lot. But for the current year, everything has been upset. Jobs, church, social ties, family ties...we all know this.

A cataclysmic upheaval forces new ways of being, but I think coronavirus is more of a Purgatory. Everything in our way of living requires some adjustment, and everything is temporary.

For me, there's working from home. There's the stress on wife and kids. There's this constant news flow. There's church. I've been going for a run almost every morning. I kill 30 minutes on my phone before I go. About a week ago I realized I could be doing my Bible reading instead, so I'm reading the Psalms in reverse order.

Eventually, every organization, relationship, etc., will have to get back to its roots and figure out how to do things under the current paradigm. But when the paradigm is Purgatory/limbo, it's tough to get momentum. We slowly bring order to the home office. We slowly figure out how to function with kids around. We slowly realize that 24 hours a day with our wives in a mundane setting is in no way Edenic.

At some point we will understand that Zoom, etc., isn't church, but merely a placeholder for church, or a symbol of church. We'll have to realize that even Sunday morning itself was a placeholder. More tangible, more fun, but still a placeholder. Only then can we begin to be the church, and develop the way to exercise our gifts properly, and lose our concern over the current troubles. For Protestants, it's being the priests we are. But we all process belief in spiritual gifts.

TLDR: God is blessing you right now by giving you time to use your spiritual gifts in new ways to edify the Body.

The Debt said:

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When Olsen opens back up, let's go have a pitcher at NG and thank God for the fellowship.

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That would be awesome. Or come out to the humble abode.

Great post

Out of nowhere, our SS this morning was about using our spiritual gifts and talents to serve others.

Gal. 5:13 - 6:5 for anyone wanting to read.

Figured this was as good a thread as any to post this

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-rejects-challenge-coronavirus-limits-church-services-n1219336

So the high court ruled that church gatherings are non-essential. They compared them to sporting events, rock concerts, and movie theaters. The churches argued that they are essential, just like Walmart, liquor stores and supermarkets. The court disagreed. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but it seems like the high court basically just set a precedent that church services are entertainment, and that restricting these services does not violate the First Amendment. I'm more than a little shocked

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So the high court ruled that church gatherings are non-essential. They compared them to sporting events, rock concerts, and movie theaters. The churches argued that they are essential, just like Walmart, liquor stores and supermarkets.

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I'll disagree with you a little bit here. it seems they are "binning" places into 2 categories: Places to be, and Places to go to to get stuff. They've only basically confirmed that church is a "Place to be" and that they aren't unfairly discriminating them against other such "Places to be".

That said, it sounds like if a church is a "place to get stuff' for say, the Eucharist...they probably could find a way to operate that way within the bounds of the law...or make that argument instead.

I think the liquor store thing is a non-starter. I haven't lived in Texas for years, but liquor is sold in grocery stores here and a lot of other places...so they are open because it would odd give groceries stores a monopoly on that product, if that makes sense.

I think we are losing something in the "essential"/"non-essential" language being used.

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I'll disagree with you a little bit here. it seems they are "binning" places into 2 categories: Places to be, and Places to go to to get stuff. They've only basically confirmed that church is a "Place to be" and that they aren't unfairly discriminating them against other such "Places to be".

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I guess it wouldn't bother me as much if this was the rationale. No one is arguing that the populace has an inalienable right to sports or movies. However, the high court could have used courtrooms, legislative assemblies, and peaceful protests as comparables instead of entertainment venues. Though it seems that given the mass protests are being exempted from COVID restrictions while churches are not.

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However, the high court could have used courtrooms, legislative assemblies, and peaceful protests as comparables instead of entertainment venues. Though it seems that given the mass protests are being exempted from COVID restrictions while churches are not.

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Well, failure in one area doesn't necessarily mean we create more failure in another. The mass protests shouldn't have been exempt.

But, this is what happens when the person who could have done the most to quell this abdicates their responsibilities.