Having attended a couple of zoom meetings today, or allow me to rephrase that: having been apart of more than 80 zoom meetings in the last few weeks, I am suffering “zoom-fatigue.” For a few moments, I was proud of myself for inventing a new term. After just completing an internet search, I have discovered that I am quite late to the party: the phrase has already been coined! I am not sure that it is fatigue with the electronic meeting or overwhelm from the subject matter. I went back to an earlier blog post that I wrote on disruption, and now I do not need to write on it, we are all living on disruption planet. Regardless of your vocation or location, we are all riding the wave of a new day.

My life since 1981 has been in some kind of ministry. A lot has changed over the past thirty-nine years. Today, the change that has typically taken years and decades has arrived in weeks or days and hours. An abundance of online meetings can be tiring; in reality, most of us are experiencing change-fatigue. This rapid change is not waiting for focus-groups or committees to decide how to accept and adapt to it, the situation is upon us and respond we must!

Yes, we will need to change and adapt, and the Church has always done that, one reason for the spread of the Christian faith has been the ability of the gospel message to adapt to the cultures of the world and not comprise the truth of the Word. There have always been ‘cultural’ adaptations that need to be called back to the core message. That would be true of my own culture! How the church will minister in the twenty-first century may look and feel different, but regardless of the change, some things will remain!

  • The Gospel itself is changeless. God created the heavens and the earth. He is the Triune God. Jesus Christ suffered and died for the sins of the world. Salvation by Faith in Jesus Christ is a free gift. The Bible is the Word of God. These are just a few of the non-negotiable of the Christian faith.
  •  “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37) This must be done and can be done by every Christ-follower anywhere in the world. Christians are the ones to be so in love with God that it informs everything in our lives.
  • And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. You can do this, and it does cost money, nor require gathering in a building. As believers, we are to love God completely, thoroughly, and absolutely and our neighbor as ourselves. Have we at times been so focused on ourselves and what we want that we have forgotten to love our neighbor? Frequently it seems that Christians are identified as angry people. Jesus said that the Law could be reduced to its essential elements in just two statements: Loving God totally and loving everyone around us. One does not have to be a pastor to love God and love others. You do not have to be a graduate from a Bible College or a scholar. You just need to know the Lord, be filled with His Spirit, love God, and love people.

In recent days I have been able to gather with the worshipping community. There is no doubt I have missed being with other believers for the church services. In light of all that has been transpiring, I have been asking myself a few questions: Have I focussed so much on us that I have neglected the people Jesus died for? Have I forgotten that church services are where we worship, praise, receive instruction from the Bible and enjoy fellowship, but it was never intended that we live and park our entire lives there. The command of Jesus is for all,  “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

Being with other believers is necessary and powerful, but going into our world is also essential to our faith.

Share with me what the Lord is saying to you.

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