Hello Ren Family!
Happy New Year !!!!!!! I’m so excited to put 2020 behind us and enter this new year. The 100 Days of Pursuit initiative is in full swing—and so many good things have already happened through this intensified effort to get close to the Lord! Even though it officially started on January 1st you can jump in any time you are ready. You can make it a 90-day pursuit. :) The content that I’m putting out each morning at 4am is also posted on the 100 Days section of our website. If you want to receive the daily emails you can do that through the website or just click here. I’ve really been seeking hard after the Lord to get a fresh word (fresh bread) daily. It’s a challenge, but I’m loving it.
In January I tend to look at the year as a whole and think through big picture themes, ministries and initiatives. It’s a little harder to do this year since we are still experiencing the pandemic. During the first wave, almost no one I knew personally got Covid but in this second wave, there have been so many. I know we are all eager to get back to normal church life but let’s be patient.
When we reopened for a few months I think I was there every week to experience it. It was stressful from my perspective. Because of our location, a good number of people attending were guests. And each week the faces changed. Normally we love having guests but each week there would be several folks not social distancing and not wearing their masks properly. Not only does this put my wife and me at risk but the Core people serving each week, especially my staff, musicians and production team. If you know me you know I’m a natural risk taker but I don’t want to put people at risk when it’s unnecessary.
Maybe it seems strange to you that a pastor would be calling the Sunday church gathering unnecessary? I know that many Christians in America have been pushing for churches to meet, and insisting it’s our religious right, and that God commands it, and that our spiritual and mental lives depend on it. I’ve listened carefully to these arguments but I think they are pretty weak.
No one enjoys Sunday physical gatherings as much as I do. To preach the Gospel to a packed house of hungry believers is absolutely exhilarating. And the times of worship, with hundreds of voices flooding the atmosphere, are spectacular! I miss this so much. But Church is not defined in the Bible as a thing we go to for a couple of hours on a Sunday. We are the Church.
Now, the Church should assemble together to do a variety of things such as these: pray, fellowship, sing, hear the preached Word and, of course, share the Lord’s Supper (or communion). But through the ages of 2000 years of church history, God’s people have done these practices in all kinds of ways. It hasn’t always been through a big Sunday gathering.
Even in the early first century Church, you see Christians meeting in a variety of ways. They met in houses late at night. A small group would gather for prayer by a river. They met in fields. Especially as the Gospel spread to places like Crete there would be very small clusters of believers in remote places. When persecution came they could not gather in large assemblies but had to meet secretly in caves. Many believers around the world today have to do the same. Maybe five believers come together at 3:30am in a desolate place. The big Sunday church experience is wonderful but it’s more of a modern luxury that Americans have come to think of as a right. Yikes. No.
There are other practical reasons why “big Sunday church” is not necessary. We are still able to watch or listen to the Word of God preached through the online service. We even can unite our hearts in worship as one even though our physical bodies are scattered all over. We also have about a dozen small groups (starting soon!) to participate in through zoom or at the church building. Some of the small groups do socially distanced outings. All of them recently did the Christmas CityLove initiative together. In addition, we can call each other. We can text. This week I’m meeting someone at Roger Williams and we plan on each sitting in our cars and talking through the window. It’ll be safe and warm—though it might cost about $5 in gas ha.
My point is that nothing is stopping us from flourishing as a church right now. It’s just different than normal and maybe requires a bit more effort and creativity. During the warmer weather, my wife and I were having people over around the fire pit on our patio. I met people outside at Rocky Point. The fact is there are many things we are able to do to stay connected.
I will add too that if you simply feel like you cannot survive without attending a physical Sunday gathering then there are probably 100+ good churches you can attend within driving distance. The majority of churches are gathering and we are in the minority of those not yet gathering. Listen. Be free and attend another church. It’s okay. I’ll not throw stones at you. If you need that then I support you. I will even recommend churches to you if you want. I make this point to say that another reason it’s not necessary to have “Sunday church” is because there are other options. Churches in the suburbs are at a much lower risk of Covid. Our location, on the other hand, is literally the hot spot of Rhode Island.
I hope all this makes sense. I’m just not in a rush to put the Ren family at risk when it’s not necessary.