Do you remember how back in the day you could actually go inside a Chick-fil-A and order your chicken sandwich rather than wind around the building a couple of times in a two-lane drive thru?
Don't you remember how in the olden days we would go to the grocery store and pick up a four pack of toilet paper without fear or apprehension? I mean, if we ran out we could simply run back and get some more. You didn’t need to buy toilet paper by the pallet.
Do you remember the days when you could walk into a hospital to visit a sick friend and no one took your temperature or asked you health questions? And you didn’t have to walk back outside and check the sign by the door to see whether or not you were supposed to be wearing a mask.
Good times.
And not so long ago.
This pandemic has brought about a great number of lasting changes, I’m afraid.
There are many of us (self included) who have looked at the pandemic as a sort of interruption and thought, “If we just hold on, we will get back to where we were. Eventually things will return to normal.”
I don’t believe they will.
Our life before the pandemic isn’t coming back.
Things at church will be different as well.
Church growth consultant and author, Thom Rainer, has just come out with a new book entitled, The Post-Quarantine Church. He argues that the pandemic is not so much an “interruption” as it is a “disruption”. Trends which we saw in the years prior to the pandemic such as a decrease in Bible reading and church attendance and an overall distrust of institutions including the church, have been accelerated and are more prominent now. What’s more, when we assemble together on Sunday mornings many of our number aren’t present. But they haven’t left us — they are with us online.
That’s new.
And there will doubtless be more changes as we move forward post-pandemic and strive to reach the lost in this new era.
But change is unsettling and can be hard to accept.
Rainer talks about a conversation he had with a preacher who desperately wanted things to get back to the way they were:
“As our team began to walk with churches, through the post-quarantine era, I remember my first conversation with a preacher who told me he couldn’t wait for things to get back to normal. I responded softly that I didn’t think we would ever return to the pre-quarantine normal.
I saw the look in his eyes. It was as if I had stolen his joy. His demeanor changed immediately. He could hardly maintain eye contact.
‘What do you mean’ he asked sadly.
As much as I hated punching a hole in that preacher’s enthusiasm, I didn’t want him walking into a world that no longer exists. …Not only will there be significant differences, but it will also likely take some time before we even begin to understand what the new era will look like.”
(Thom Rainer, The Post-Quarantine Church, pp. 7-8)
I imagine there are many of us who feel the same way. We can’t wait for things to get back to normal. We can’t wait for things to be like they were. But things have changed and we’re still working out all the ways in which this pandemic has affected our society. It may be a while before we fully understand how the church should respond.
But here’s the thing: we’ve got to stop acting as if God was surprised by the pandemic. News flash: He wasn’t! He saw it coming. He understands exactly the impact it has had upon our world. And He knows the way forward!
Best of all: He hasn’t gone anywhere. He’s right here with us. For He has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).
God’s got this!
As Moses said to the people in his day:
“The LORD Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (Deuteronomy 31:8)
The Lord is with us! Let’s look to the future with faith and a deep and abiding trust in God — not with fear and apprehension.
As God told David:
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.” (Psalm 32:8).
What can we say to that except — “Amen!”