A reflection on the church and the COVID19 pandemic.
Christ died and rose again to form a new spiritual family which is not bounded by biological or cultural ties. Believers are now brothers and sisters in Christ. Relationship with believers outside our biological family is an important part of our faith.
A core activity of this spiritual family is to fan the flame of love and good works in each other. We are to spur one another towards loving God, loving one another and loving others. Meeting together is seen as an important means to help us fulfil this one-anothering mandate. Hebrews 10:24-25 exhorts us: "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
How does meeting together physically (In-person meetings) helps us to observe the one-anothering mandate? How will replacing it with live-streaming worship or meeting online through electronic platforms impact those dimensions?
1. Fellowshipping
In-Person - We encourage one another with words accompanied with non-verbal cues like body language and facial expressions. Non-verbal language makes our conversation significantly richer.
Live-Streaming - Worshippers watch the worship service alone. They are not having any interaction with others.
Online Meeting (Text and Video chats) - Members can have meaningful interaction via social media and video chat, but non-verbal cues become muted on such online platforms.
2. Praying together
In-Person - Members draw near to each other to pray together. They agree with each other's prayer with “yes” and “amen”. They hold hands to express unity or lay hands on each other to convey blessing.
Live-Streaming - Leader leads the prayer time on-screen. Worshippers respond to the leader’s prayer alone. Worshippers are not able to pray together.
Online Meeting (Text and Video chats) - Members can pray together over a video or text chat. But they are unable to hold hands to express unity or lay hands to convey blessing.
3. Singing Together
In-Person - Members impact one another with their voices and bodily expressions in group worship.
Live-Streaming - Worshippers watching the live-streaming worship service may or may not sing along. Even if they sing, they sing alone.
Online Meeting (Text and Video chats) - Technically, it is hard to sing in harmony on online platforms. The inability to sing in harmony may discourage members from singing together.
4. Holy Communion
In-Person - We pass the emblems to the person next to us and partake the emblems together expressing our unity as the body of Christ.
Live-Streaming - Leader may lead individual worshippers to partake the Holy Communion at home. It is however a very solo experience for the worshippers.
Online Meeting (Text and Video chats) - We can partake the Holy Communion together via a video chat, however the sense of togetherness will not be as acute as being physically present with each other.
5. Sermon
In-Person - The nodding of heads in agreement to the truth shared, the occasional “amen” across the room encourage others to tune in to the message. The word also comes alive when we gather in groups to discuss how God's word has spoken to us. Again, non-verbal cues help us to communicate better and make the discussion richer.
Live-Streaming - Worshippers watch the sermon online alone. There are no meaningful exchanges with other believers.
Online Meeting (Text and Video chats) - Members can use text chat to respond with a “yes”, an “amen” or various emoticons when the sermon is being preached. Members can use video chat to share with each other how God has spoken to them through the sermon.
6. Outreach
in-Person - We meet needs together. We discuss how we can be salt and light in this world. We collaborate in outreach projects. We serve the poor and needy together.
Live-Streaming - Worshippers are not meaningfully connected to one another in the church. There are no opportunities for such outreach co-operations.
Online Meeting (Text and Video chats) - Members can collaborate and discuss outreach projects on online platforms. However, they will most likely need to meet up physically together to execute the plans. There is a limit to meeting needs through an online platform.
7. Discipline
In-Person - The physical group setting helps members to be disciplined to sit through a worship gathering and to pay attention with others.
Live-Streaming - Worshippers must be self-disciplined, internally motivated. There are no others around to spur him or her to pay attention.
Online Meeting (Text and Video chats) - Video chats may help in group discipline. However text chats won’t be as effective in this as members can’t see what others are doing.
Conclusion
Live-streaming worship services cannot serve the one-anothering mandate effectively. We must remember that we cannot practice our faith in silos. It is not sufficient to sing alone, pray alone and listen to sermon alone. No matter how rich we may feel our private experience with God is, it is not complete without the community. Thus we cannot depend on live-streaming as a the only means for church body life. Churches should encourage members to meet in small groups for meaningful fellowship either in-person on through online platforms.
There is a limit however to using online meeting platforms to serve the one-anothering mandate. Leaders must establish good online communication etiquette and protocols to help make online meetings successful. Nevertheless, there are dimensions in face-to-face interactions that cannot be achieved through online interactions. When we meet in-person, our connection goes beyond spoken words. Non-verbal cues like body language, facial expression and gestures make our conversation significantly richer. The subtleties of non-verbal cues are lost in electronic platforms.
In view of the COVID-19 situation, there may come a time when we may need to suspend in-person meetings in order to stop the spread of the virus. However, this should not be for a long haul. Meeting together physically is key to fulfilling the one-anothering mandate.
How then can we meet together physically in a safe and responsible way?
Firstly, we need to establish all necessary pre-cautionary measures to keep the physical meeting as safe as possible.
Secondly, we should consider meeting in smaller groups. This will help lessen the risk of exposure to the virus and also minimise the risk of spreading the virus to a large group of people. Small group meetings can follow a simple flow which includes worship in songs, breaking bread, offertory, watching an online sermon together, meal fellowship and praying with one another.
Thirdly, we may explore a blend of online and in-person meetings to space out but not abandon face-to-face interactions.
All said, It is possible to meet together physically and yet not fulfill the one-anothering mandate! Do our current in-person worship services serve the one-anothering mandate effectively? Is it more a uni-directional experience? Is it a community that gathers to worship and edify or a crowd that gather to watch a stage performance? Let us not forget that the core purpose for us to meet together is to stimulate one another to love God, love one another and love others.