Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Proximity
Mark 1:41
“Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.””
COVID-19 is changing everything about everything. All of the ways we have done things in the lifetime of almost every person alive on the planet today have been radically altered. This applies to work, sports, entertainment, every form of social engagement, and church.
Much of what we do has been designed for proximity, for nearness and closeness. Prior to the global rampage of the novel coronavirus we already had the technology, for example, to shift most office work to more convenient places of work, like the home. But the vast majority embraced new technology and then deployed it in old ways. While we had new tools, our workflows were designed for proximity and didn’t change. We used remote tools in the office just to be close to each other.
Now the same thing is happening in church. Some technology allows us the opportunity to meet and to fellowship with each other, to worship and pray together, to read the word and hear the preacher together. Other technologies allow for simple streaming, no engagement, no interaction just watch and listen. Many preachers are still showing up at church, shouting at the phone the way they would at a live congregation. We don’t know what to do.
The challenge for the church today is that, just like work, we have a ministry model that is based on proximity. And we have this model for good reasons too.
In Mark 1:40-42, Jesus is confronted by a man with leprosy. Based on the Jewish laws at the time, Leviticus 13, the man should have been in quarantine or isolation warning others not to get near him. Instead he approached Jesus and was touched. He was desirous of healing and restoration to the community and got it.
We also have the familiar verse that pastors use when people don’t come to church, Hebrews 10:25, “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another …” Some today are even using this verse to disobey the authorities in order to hold church events. These fail to realise that we must “submit ourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors,”1 Peter 2:13-14.
Those who are making this case are missing the point. They are only focused on how we come together, but that is just one part of it. We have to figure out how we will minister to those who are desperate for ministry in the place of isolation but who cannot come to us like that man went to Jesus.
Then there is the guidance given to the church about ministry to the sick in James 5:14, “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.” This is one of the primary places where our understanding of proximity and ministry come together. To call for the elders to come over and anoint requires proximity. Isolation eliminates this possibility.
What are we going to do now that so many people are sick if ministry requires our proximity? We are tied up here with the technology meeting and preaching to our members but it does not allow us to minister.
Today, we ourselves are in quarantine and isolation, we may call it WFH, working from home, or we may call it WFH, worship from home. However, this is contrary to our nature, we are social beings designed for community. So we have to figure out, not just how we fellowship in these times, but how we minister. Fellowship is one aspect of church life, but ministry is another.
What we must learn is that proximity is recommended for ministry and called for in the scriptures, but proximity is not the primary condition for God’s intervention. We have to start finding ways to minister the grace of God to desperate people without proximity. The church that resigns itself to talking to itself in isolation and hiding because of Covid-19 is missing our responsibility and opportunity.
Two examples come to mind quickly. In Matthew 8:5-9 a centurion came and asked Jesus for healing for his sick servant. Jesus offered to go to the house to heal, Jesus proposed proximity, “Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”” However, the centurion objected and said essentially that, the way he understood it, Jesus didn’t need proximity, He just needed to speak a word and the servant would be healed. The centurion realised that proximity, while preferred, is not a prerequisite for healing.
In John 4:46-53, we see the opposite. On this occasion Jesus didn’t propose proximity but the person needing help demanded it and Jesus refused. “He (the nobleman) went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.” John 4:47.
In both instances proximity was not a prerequisite for the power of Jesus to heal the sick, and the afflicted.
We have a responsibility to pray for and minister to people struck by COVID-19. Isolation and quarantine are no excuse for us not to minister to people who are desperate for it.
The power of Jesus to heal today is as real as the day He met that leper who broke the rules of quarantine and isolation; the power of Jesus to heal today without proximity is as real as when the centurion said just speak the word; the power of Jesus to heal today is as real as when Jesus spoke the word over that nobleman’s son who was miles away.
Think on these things:
- How has the temporary suspension of meetings in church buildings affected your ability to worship and to share the Gospel?
- How is your church responding to the limitations of gatherings at the church building?
- What new things about ministry is your church learning during this COVID-19 crisis?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that we would use every tool at our disposal to reach those who need the Gospel of Jesus in these difficult days.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex
Photo: Praying for the saints after preaching in Maryland at a time when proximity was standard practice for ministry
