In my last post, I wrote about the contagious coronavirus and how it compares to the outbreak of the gospel. The coronavirus outbreak has changed the world and maybe for good. This not only affects how we do life but also how we do church.
First, there is no need to fear. The coronavirus didn’t catch God off guard. The world has been changing for a while. If anything, the coronavirus may just speed things up. What do I mean? Well, I mean that the world has slowly but surely been going from physical to digital.
A few days ago, I felt as if time stood still and the world came to a standstill (Joshua 10:1-15). The coronavirus is a game changer. I haven’t seen anything like it since well, the advent of the smartphone in 2007.
I do think our lives will at some point return to normal, but it will be a new normal. At some point, I think common sense will set in and “flattening the curve” will be balanced out with “we’ve got to get on with living our lives.” However, social distancing could could last well into the distant future. Maybe the new life looks something more like “phygital” where we get the best of both the physical and the digital world (I have wrote about this before).
How does this new life play out in the church? Once the new normal sets in, maybe now we go to the physical church building once a week and we go to the virtual online church once a week. Perhaps next generation leaders offer students a bible study at church and a bible study online every week (Zoom, Facebook Live, Skype, etc.).
Our lives have been radically altered. However, there are some good things about the irreversible changes the coronavirus outbreak might bring about. For one, the Bible is clear that parents are to be the primary disciple makers of their children (Deut. 6:4-9). The coronavirus in some ways is forcing parents to do what they should have been doing all along.
The church can help the home by providing parents with family resources that they can begin teaching and discipling their children with. One resource I would recommend is Tim Keller’s New City Catechism. This catechism and curriculum is targeted toward children ages 4-11, but can be tailored to use with students of all ages. I plan to begin emailing the parents of my students family resources/devotions that they can begin implementing in their homes. The home is to be a little church where parents and guardians can display the love of Christ. The father is the pastor of his home.