Very few people today would choose 1 Thessalonians 4:11 as their life verse.
“Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. ”
It feels like it lacks ambition, goals, and even faith. What kind of faith does it take to live a quiet life? What kind of faith does it take to mind your own business? That doesn't sound risky and audacious. That doesn't sound like the kind of faith that gets you a book deal or a megachurch or an autobiography and speaking tour. It sounds, well, boring. But, it requires a different kind of faith. A faith that trusts a sovereign God can use mustard seed impact for massive kingdom growth. A faith that acknowledges I can be obscure and unknown to the world because the God of the universe knows and loves me. A faith that sees God as the main actor in human history not me. Really, it's a biblical kind of faith.
While many of us wouldn't choose this kind of story, we have largely been forced into it by the COVID-19 crisis. We are having to figure out how to attend to our own business (my own soul, my family, roommates, self, finances, etc.) without the quick and easy distractions of life. We are having to learn how to be quiet. How to simplify things. How to slow down.
In the midst of all of this, churches have tried to respond. Many churches have chosen to ramp up their services through all the virtual avenues possible. More avenues to connect online and more programing for bible study, prayer, and connection. I am certainly grateful for these attempts and nothing I write here is meant to be a critique or attack on churches who have ramped up. We are all trying to figure out what works best in the fog of a global pandemic. At City Hope however, we have largely scaled back. We have done so for a number of reasons both personally and corporately and I want to outline a little bit of my thinking about this path. Also, I want to communicate this because we have been functioning this way without communicating effectively the reasons for it, which I am sure has left some within our church feeling a little out of the loop. This was not intended but certainly an oversight of communication for which I am sorry.
I decided that we would intentionally scale back largely because we are a weary church. As a church plant seeking to bring the gospel, see the Kingdom grow and transform our city through racial reconciliation, radical acts of justice and mercy, and relational discipleship, we are weary. That is hard work. And our young church plant (which has gotten a lot younger through multiplying babies!) is tired. Maybe I'm just tired as the planter, but I get the sense that our volunteers, staff, and committed folks are tired. We were sensing this before the pandemic and then with the lockdown it gave a natural and real pause to life as we knew it. Rather than fight against that, we could embrace that pause and slow down. Now, I realize this pause comes with all sorts of other very real and severe threats and concerns. These have certainly not ignored these concerns and have sought to address them through individual relationships and a team of volunteers and staff committed to extending help through our mercy fund. The lockdown is not a vacation and so this has not been a slowing down vacation mindset. It is a slowing down to lament, evaluate, prioritize, simplify, rest in the Lord, and recharge. But we have scaled back other programing because we needed a pause.
From the very beginning of City Hope, I have said that for our vision to be really lived out it must be on display not primarily on Sunday mornings but at our dinner tables. This obviously is not literally possible at this point. That is the other main reason we have scaled back. We have largely pursued a non-programed and organic discipleship philosophy. That is hard to translate to planned virtual offerings. My hope is that all of you are using this time to connect with one another in very real ways and continuing to pursue the relationships that help point you to Jesus.
With the governors announcement yesterday to get Indiana back on track (https://www.backontrack.in.gov/) we are beginning to process and evaluate the next steps we will take as a church. We will work with the leadership of MadJax and heed the advice of public health officials as we consider what in-person activities are not only possible but prudent. We have not made any decisions on a plan moving forward but will be seriously looking into it over the next week. Our motivation will continue to be love of God and love of neighbor and not simply our own preferences or desires. I know that I miss you all and our gatherings but we will consider the implications of everything we do for our whole city before moving forward.
That being said, we will begin to slowly ramp up some more opportunities to connect in the coming weeks, but only as we continue a commitment to slowing down and pursuing an intentionally new way of doing life as a follower of Jesus. By that I mean our ramping up will not be adding things simply for the sake of adding things to further distract us from the important soul work of quiet rest before God and glorifying him through our responsibilities. I hope to outline some of that this Sunday during our worship service.
In the meantime, I want to give a few suggestions to take this profoundly difficult and awful reason for a lockdown (a devastating global pandemic) and make this an intentional pause. Even as things begin to open up, we will need to be wise, cautious and stay home more than we desire in an effort to keep others and ourselves safe.
Take some time each day to pray. Focus on God's character. Lament the current challenges you face. And try to think of specific things you are thankful for today.
Take some time each day to connect. Connect with the people you are with in lockdown (family, roommates, etc.). Be thankful for these people (especially the ones that bother you- siblings, roommates, children, parents!) and see them as made in God's image and wonderful in his sight. Also connect with friends virtually. Connect with people in our church through FaceTime, Zoom, Google, text messaging, and phone calls. The only way the church can function as the church is when we all take the responsibility of reaching out to each other in care and love. Take this time to build into the meaningful relationships you have in your life and even reconnect with old friends.
Give yourself grace. During this time the things that normally take me an hour have taken two. My brain has sputtered and skipped more than usual making me slightly more absent-minded (for those of you who know my normal absent-mindedness... pray for Whitney!). Some of you are coming out of this time with awesome new hobbies and skills while others are feeling great about being out of pajamas for multiple days in a row. Both are okay. None of us took a class on how to live through a global pandemic so give yourself some grace in walking forward each day.
Take time to revaluate the pace of your life before COVID-19. We have been walking through a new sermon series called Upside Down: Learning from Jesus in an Age of Chaos. This series is designed to help us evaluate the ways in which our lives were out of balance with the upside down Kingdom of God. What time could be better to evaluate these things than when the whole world is turned upside down anyway! In what ways did we set a pace that made walking with Jesus another thing we added to our day rather than a new way of living? In what ways did we run so fast to get a main hustle, side hustle, hobby, and friends that we forgot to sit silently at the feet of Jesus? How do we go back to the basics of following Jesus and see the Upside Down Kingdom of God reshape and transform everything?
Was this intentional slowing down and scaling back the right thing to do? I don't know. I don't pretend to have all the answers (I loved my seminary experience but skipped that Pastoring through a pandemic class!). My hope is that it will recharge us for the work ahead. The recovery from this pandemic is going to take a long time. The mental health, economic, relational and physical toll of this crisis will be far-reaching and the church of Jesus Christ must play a real role in bringing hope and love. But that role must be one where we are abiding in Jesus, the true vine, for life. So, let's make sure we are doing that together for the glory of God. Can't wait to see you all soon!
In Christ alone,
Pastor Josh