The "Nonessential" Conspiracy

You'd have to be not paying attention to not have heard about this current debate in the public square. While liquor stores and golf courses and marijuana stores have been classified as "essential," places of worship are not. Gathering as believers is "nonessential" to many in government and in society.

If you consider the not-so-distant past, this would have been unthinkable. Church wasn't merely "essential"; it was central. Churches were built in the literal center of town because church was central. If you wanted to be able to survive in that town, you had to be part of the church because church was central. It didn't really matter if you were a believer; churches were still central. And in a single generation or two, they've become "nonessential" -- optional, permissible, nice to have, perhaps, but certainly not necessary. How did we get here from there?

Part of it, I'm sure, has been the slow move away from "religion" as good to the "Nones" -- "I'm spiritual, but not religious." This was pushed from one side with the "separation of Church and State" argument which, in the minds of many (most?), meant that Church wasn't as reliable as State. That is, Church was personal and State was more general. "You can have your religion; just don't trot it out in the public square." Part of it is certainly the result of the shift in the culture's morality. As people have embraced sex as god and personal enjoyment as the ultimate good, they have necessarily jettisoned Christian values and, thus, relegated Christianity to "opinion without any basis in fact." And, of course, that bleeds into all sorts of other areas. From sexual immorality to a loss of rational thought on gender to a disintegration of marriage followed obviously by the destruction of family values to ... well, you can see the devolution. All of this, as a society, certainly feeds into the decay from "Church is central" to "Who needs it anyway?"

I suspect, however, that there is a part of this move away from "church as essential" that is our own fault. I suspect that there is no small number of church people that are nodding their heads saying, "Yep, church is not essential." Because many of us have that line of thinking in our heads. We've prepared the ground for it in our "I don't need a building to worship God" kind of line. It is true on the face of it, but it ignores the "one anothers" of the Bible. We've fertilized it with our "Jesus is my boyfriend" kind of thinking where it's purely personal, purely relational, and not really any of your business. We've watered it with the water of "Christianity is a relationship, not a religion." That, unfortunately, is not only mistaken; it's misleading. Christianity is a relationship -- the first part is true -- but it is most certainly a religion as well. The necessity of gathering for fellowship (Heb 10:23-25) shows it. The depiction of Christians as a body (1 Cor 12:12-27) demands it. The Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20) to "make disciples" rather than mere converts and to teach them "all that I commanded you" makes it unavoidable. But we've bought this "You and me, Jesus" line which suggests that Christ is essential, but church is optional.

I wouldn't venture to guess who had the most influence -- Satan and his world or misguided, oblivious Christians. I can't avoid the conclusion that our inattention to God, His Word, and His church are indeed a major contributor. I think that because it isn't just the world telling Christians that church is nonessential. It's church people, too. This COVID-19 crisis didn't cause it; it exposed it. For quite awhile now apparently genuine believers have been saying, "I don't need church; I just need Jesus." And since God's Word thoroughly disagrees -- placing Christianity squarely in the center of vertical and horizontal relationships -- we probably ought to start the process of repenting of our own contributions to this lie. Starting with our own complicity and moving out as groups of co-conspirators. Maybe today would be a good day to start.