Experts say it takes 30 days of doing something over and over before it becomes a habit. For example, if you stop going to church for 30 days, you have made a habit of not going to church. If you work remotely for 30 straight days, you have made a habit of working remotely. The Coronavirus is forcing our hand and making us change many of our habits.
Habits are powerful forces of nature because they have the ability to affect our lives without us even thinking about them. We get in the habit of turning off our alarm clock in the morning, brushing our teeth, and pouring a cup of coffee. Before long, we don’t think about doing these things. We just do them while we think about doing other things. It’s kind of like perfecting an art such as playing a piano or dribbling a basketball. After hours and hours of practice, the drill becomes routine.
Here are a couple of my favorite quotes that relate to habits. A body builder by the name of Rocky Detwiler says,
“Your thoughts become your words.
Your words become your actions.
Your actions become your habits.
Your habits become your lifestyle.”
(original quote says “Your habits become your character. Your character becomes your destiny.”)
Business expert Jon Gordon says, “Culture drives expectations and beliefs. Expectations and beliefs drive behaviors. Behaviors drive habits. Habits drive the future.”
But the quote I love best about habits comes from the Bible. Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “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.”
In other words, go to church! Make it a habit. But what if I told you these verses weren’t primarily about going to church. What if I told you these verses were about God’s people drawing near to Jesus by being the church (v. 22). Church isn’t a place to go. It’s a people to be. That’s why v. 24-25 talks about love, good works, and encouraging others. These are the things we have to work at, to make a habit of, not just getting out of bed on a Sunday morning and stumbling our way to church. Church isn’t something you do. It’s something you are.
Church isn’t a play, a practice, or a performance. It’s a people connecting with God and with each other through His Son Jesus Christ! And this can happen anywhere! This can certainly happen in a church building but it can just as certain happen online in digital community. Will it be different? Yes. Will it be better? That may depend on what age bracket you talk to. What’s important is that we make it a practice, a habit of meeting together, whether that’s in digital small groups or in Sunday School.
I remember an old Baptist preacher telling me we drive our cars to church and park in the same parking spot every week only to go in the church and sit on the same pew every week (at some churches, it may be listening to the same sermon every week, but I won’t go there, LOL). For some church folks, the Coronavirus could be a good thing in that it makes them think theologically about what the Bible says a church is (we call this ecclesiology). It’s good to park in a different spot. It’s good to sit in a different pew. Why? Because where you park and where you sit at church has nothing to do with cultivating the habits that Hebrews 10:24-25 speak of. As a good friend of mine says, “let’s stop doing church and start being the church.”