Dale Partridge - Real Christianity #92： How Coronavirus Might Change the Local Church, Forever

00:00:00.000 Welcome to Real Christianity, a weekly show designed to help Christians know their Bible,

00:00:04.940 defend their faith, and truly understand what it means to follow Jesus.

00:00:08.980 The premise is simple. The culture is getting louder. The church is getting flashier,

00:00:13.840 but few pastors are teaching on how to live a biblical life.

00:00:17.780 My name is Dale Partridge, along with my incredible wife, Veronica.

00:00:21.160 Join us as we start an important conversation about what it really means to be a Christian.

00:00:30.000 We'll be right back.

00:01:00.000 Welcome to Real Christianity. Today, we are talking about how the coronavirus might change

00:01:06.640 the local church forever. Okay, you guys might notice that that title is the exact same title

00:01:13.040 as the article that I just released this week that was a special release. It's a comprehensive

00:01:20.420 look at how the coronavirus might really shift things here in the local church traditional

00:01:29.600 or house church, but things are going to change. And basically, it's four predictions

00:01:35.980 that I've made on how churches are going to gather differently and operate differently and plan

00:01:44.260 differently. And if you've read the article, great. You can just kind of exit out of today's

00:01:51.060 episode. But for all the people that have not read the article, I would like to do an audio

00:01:56.960 version of the article. So I'm just going to read the article. Think of it almost as an audio book.

00:02:02.140 I had 10,000 people read this article within the first 24 hours. And so many of you guys

00:02:10.480 messaged me over and over and over of just encouragement. And this is exactly how I've

00:02:16.380 been feeling. And thank you for the clarification. You put words to my experience.

00:02:22.180 experience, my hope is that this can be a resource not only for you, but also for your

00:02:30.480 pastor.

00:02:31.120 And so if you want to find the article, you can just go to stjustins.org forward slash

00:02:36.780 coronavirus.

00:02:38.240 And that's all one word, coronavirus, stjustins.org forward slash coronavirus.

00:02:43.680 And that'll be the article there that's available for you guys to pass along to friends, family,

00:02:50.720 and other pastors. I spent about 40 hours writing this article. It's probably one of the longest

00:02:56.660 articles I've ever written. It's about 5,000 words, which means that it's about a half hour read.

00:03:02.280 And so I'd like to take you guys through that. I do think that it's an important message for

00:03:07.340 the church today. For those of you who are new to the podcast, this isn't standard. Usually it's

00:03:13.820 an episode with my wife and I, but since the quarantine's happened, we have less babysitting

00:03:17.780 and we're not doing dual shows as much. So once we get out of this quarantine season,

00:03:22.960 we'll go back to having our regular shows. But let's go ahead and dive in. And once I'm done

00:03:28.840 reading the article, I'll close with some thoughts and I might even do some ad lib in the middle of

00:03:32.840 it. Forever is a strong word, but the truth is nothing really stays the same. Everything is

00:03:39.340 always changing, growing, declining, moving, and shifting forever. But then there are moments that

00:03:45.480 accelerate and magnify change. A cancer diagnosis, a declaration of war, the death of a loved one,

00:03:52.240 a global pandemic. The coronavirus, if it's not clear by now, is one of those moments.

00:03:58.900 It's a time that will change the way our modern world operates forever. I'm not the only one who

00:04:05.200 thinks so either. The Washington Post released an article titled, How the Coronavirus Will Change

00:04:09.940 our lives forever, from music to politics to medicine. Politico released a fascinating write-up

00:04:16.040 hosting 34 industries with their respective experts titled, Coronavirus Will Change the World

00:04:21.720 Permanently, 34 Big Thinkers Predictions for What's to Come. Bloomberg, ESPN, Foreign Policy,

00:04:28.640 LA Times, CNN, and everyone in between has released at least one article discussing the

00:04:34.120 permanent and lasting changes that will occur due to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

00:04:40.780 The idea that an event like this would create long-standing emotional change shouldn't surprise

00:04:48.580 us either. There are hundreds of articles covering the post-traumatic stress from 9-11,

00:04:53.840 the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia, and Hurricane Katrina. Moments like these are thunderous

00:05:01.220 and alter humanity and their societies forever.

00:05:05.480 Now, it's more obvious how industries like medicine,

00:05:08.840 healthcare, politics, HR departments,

00:05:12.260 and grocery store supply chains

00:05:14.020 will experience these permanent changes.

00:05:16.800 But what about the local church?

00:05:18.640 How will the coronavirus change how Christians assemble?

00:05:22.340 And of these changes,

00:05:23.680 which of them will be shocking, disruptive, and lasting?

00:05:27.060 And before I divulge with my opinions,

00:05:29.500 I'd like to prime the conversation with some theological and historical clarity

00:05:34.080 that'll provide the lens by which I'm making these statements.

00:05:38.120 God's sovereignty.

00:05:39.400 I believe that God is sovereign over the coronavirus.

00:05:42.220 In fact, I believe that God ordained it in every single effect that has come because of it.

00:05:47.180 You can see reference Amos 3.6.

00:05:49.760 I believe that when Jesus said in Matthew 28.18,

00:05:53.300 all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me,

00:05:56.720 that he meant those words.

00:05:58.320 Namely, nothing in our world has come to pass without his permission. 0.87

00:06:03.260 The Synoptic Gospels demonstrate that even nature is not free of God's rule. 0.84

00:06:08.480 In Matthew 8, 27, the disciples express that, quote,

00:06:11.240 even the winds and seas obey him.

00:06:13.680 In Isaiah 45, 7, God shocks us with words that offer most modern Christians

00:06:18.360 a puzzling perspective of his grandeur.

00:06:20.660 Quote, I form light and create darkness.

00:06:23.400 I make well-being and create calamity.

00:06:26.380 I am the Lord who does all these things, end quote. I believe that God is big and good and

00:06:34.120 just and sovereign. I believe he is working all things together according to his perfect will,

00:06:39.260 Ephesians 1, 11. Furthermore, I believe by his sovereignty that he will work all things together

00:06:46.000 for the good of the church, Romans 8, 28. But most of all, I believe God will be glorified

00:06:53.280 through the coronavirus. I believe as J.C. Ryle so beautifully stated,

00:06:58.080 quote, health is a good thing, but sickness is far better if it leads us to God. 0.99

00:07:03.460 This season may not look like the most effective path toward a Christian awakening in our world,

00:07:08.780 but history confirms that the most fertile soil for church revival is found in the beds of

00:07:14.580 suffering and uncertainty. Though it may seem bleak, many are coming back to the Bible.

00:07:20.120 Though it may seem confusing, many are on their knees in prayer.

00:07:23.400 Though it may seem broken, many are seeing their need for the gospel.

00:07:28.400 I think C.S. Lewis' grand thought on the matter is beautiful.

00:07:32.140 He says,

00:07:32.460 We can even ignore pleasure, but pain insists upon being attended to.

00:07:38.260 God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain.

00:07:43.880 It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.

00:07:47.340 The Lord knows what He's doing, and we can have joy in the midst of this pandemic, for He is with us until the very end. 0.83

00:07:55.660 Pandemics and Church History

00:07:57.020 It would be easy to dismiss my thesis by saying, forever, is too strong a word, or an overreaction.

00:08:04.760 That is, some might say, oh, the church has experienced plagues before, and she'll experience plagues again.

00:08:10.440 Or, things will change for a time, but eventually, she'll return back to business as usual.

00:08:16.280 Historically, this sentiment was actually quite true.

00:08:19.480 But unlike the bubonic plague of the 14th century and the Great Plague of London,

00:08:24.380 which were both localized to certain cities and countries, the coronavirus is global.

00:08:30.460 The increase of international travel and the frequency of human movement has raised the stakes.

00:08:35.760 Furthermore, this pandemic is not only about a disease, but also about a societal fear and pandemonium.

00:08:42.220 Simply put, we're not just dealing with the matters of physical health, but an entire complex sociopolitical whirlwind that's fueled by our modern access to social media and news.

00:08:53.840 Ultimately, the coronavirus is transforming human culture, and when human culture shifts, things change.

00:09:00.640 I say all this because self-preservation is blinding.

00:09:04.120 Our innocent hope for things to remain as they are is often a not-so-innocent front

00:09:09.580 for what's lurking behind, the protection of self.

00:09:13.620 As a pastor, any desire for the church to remain as she is cannot be in alignment with

00:09:18.720 God's plan for an ever-growing, ever-developing, and ever-moving bride.

00:09:22.780 What am I getting at? 0.94

00:09:23.620 Well, the coronavirus is going to change your local church.

00:09:29.180 As elders and seminarians and shepherds and teachers, we must be willing to embrace that

00:09:34.480 reality with a yielded and ready heart before the Lord. But as we all know, unexpected change

00:09:41.000 is not our friend. In fact, if our livelihood or security or safety is dependent upon the

00:09:46.440 consistency of something other than God, any change in it will be violently opposed. In some

00:09:52.480 cases, our own self-preservation may even cause complete ignorance to imminent change. Upton

00:09:58.540 Sinclair once said, it is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends

00:10:04.340 upon his not understanding it. Pastors, it's my opinion that God is using the coronavirus to do

00:10:12.040 much more than teach us how to live stream sermons to the internet for a few weeks. I believe God is

00:10:18.140 purifying his church, growing his church, and possibly initiating a new cultural era for his

00:10:23.820 church. Let me explain. When we think of the word disruptive, it generates visions of disorderly

00:10:31.080 interjection by some foreign party or person. It makes you think of the untrained child repeatedly

00:10:36.860 interrupting your dinner conversation. But the Lord has been using divine disruption as a tool

00:10:42.520 to cleanse and reorient his people throughout the scriptures. In fact, every single divine

00:10:47.420 intervention in the life of a prophet, priest, king, judge, or apostle disrupted and reoriented

00:10:53.160 their lives in a magnificent way. Paul, for example, had no plan to meet Christ on his way

00:10:57.600 to Damascus, and David had no expectation of his pastor-side anointing to kingship by Samuel.

00:11:03.440 Ultimately, the scriptures are a convincing example that God's will is disruptive to human

00:11:09.100 plans. In light of God's sovereignty over both the church and the coronavirus, and in light of the

00:11:14.860 very true reality that our churches have been disrupted. How might this historic pandemic

00:11:20.020 change the local church? Better yet, how might it change your local church? And as pastors and

00:11:26.500 clergymen, what should we expect to not remain the same as the viral floodwaters dissipate?

00:11:33.120 What should we expect to see that we've not seen in this current generation? Furthermore,

00:11:38.000 how should we be viewing these changes through the lens of scripture and what adaptations should be

00:11:43.460 made to ensure that we are wisely shepherding the flock among us. But most of all, how do we grasp

00:11:49.020 all of this and translate it into a fruitful and biblical expression of local church? While I wish

00:11:55.980 I had all the answers to these vital questions, I don't. However, I do have some predictions that

00:12:02.660 may prove helpful for those in church leadership. As a house church planter and a pastor, this entire

00:12:09.120 experience has offered me a unique vantage point, distinct from my brothers serving in the

00:12:14.320 traditional church. I don't expect my words to be any more meaningful than any other pastor or

00:12:20.220 more experienced shepherd within the church today. Nevertheless, I do hope my forecast of what's to

00:12:26.200 come is not only humble, but sober. May the Lord use it to build his kingdom. Prediction number one,

00:12:33.060 Some will not return for months or even years. By now, it's obvious that we, as pastors,

00:12:40.700 have a real problem to deal with. First, we have experts affirming the coronavirus as a valid

00:12:45.700 threat. Second, we have the media driving both the rational concern and irrational fear deep

00:12:51.860 into the hearts and minds of Western culture. The extent of this concern and fear will be far

00:12:57.100 reaching in the way that we operate as humans going forward. We've been compelled to distrust

00:13:01.560 crowds, handshakes, public spaces, and hugs. Each and every contact might be a death sentence,

00:13:07.220 so we've been told, for those over the age of 60 and those who have pre-existing conditions.

00:13:12.120 Unfortunately, the local church is filled with these exact human touch points. In fact,

00:13:17.800 the structure of a local assembly is the epitome of what the media has spent the past several weeks

00:13:23.180 telling us to avoid. As a result, my prediction is that many of the elderly and compromised do 1.00

00:13:29.660 not return to the local church for months or even years. That is to say, I don't personally expect

00:13:35.300 to see this group rushing back in large numbers to submerge themselves into high-capacity social

00:13:40.980 environments over the next 6 to 18 months. As some experts are saying, this could only be the

00:13:46.100 beginning of the coronavirus era, and a reintroduction of the epidemic is possible in the fall if we're

00:13:51.300 too relaxed on our nation's human health policies. Ultimately, this virus won't truly lose steam

00:13:56.560 until we have a highly accessible and safe vaccination or millions upon millions have

00:14:01.700 contracted it and created antibodies to fight its further transmission. When you combine the very

00:14:07.520 real need for these groups to protect their lives with the comfort and security of watching church

00:14:13.640 from home, you create a recipe for abandoned attendance. As church leaders, we may think to

00:14:19.900 ourselves, well, we could still conduct church, you know, the gathering of the saints without the 0.97

00:14:25.200 elderly and compromised present? I think we may underestimate the size of this group. Let's start 1.00

00:14:30.520 with the compromised. Clinically speaking, this includes pregnant and nursing mothers, infants,

00:14:35.720 the 8.4% of the population who has asthma, and the millions of immune compromised in all age

00:14:41.480 brackets. This is no small number. Then you have the boomers. And as of today, boomers make up

00:14:47.060 about 70 million Americans. That's about 22% of the population. But this isn't simply a numbers

00:14:52.840 game. It's also a behavior game. That is, the number one giving group in the church today is,

00:14:59.000 you guessed it, the boomers. Blackbaud, a social good research company, found that

00:15:04.760 boomers make up 41.6% of all church giving. In 2016, they made this statement,

00:15:11.540 quote, the greatest generation, 1900 to 1927, the silent generation, 1928 to 1945,

00:15:18.080 and the boomer generation make up 78.8% of total church giving.

00:15:25.260 For the institutional church operator, the immediate question is likely,

00:15:30.080 how can we convert boomers to leverage technology for online giving?

00:15:34.140 But again, this poses a very real and obvious dilemma 1.00

00:15:37.900 as the boomer generation is the same generation with the least comfort 0.58

00:15:41.520 and the highest amount of rejection of technology.

00:15:44.220 So what does all this mean?

00:15:46.300 The local church is likely going to experience a major shift. While some churches may be able to

00:15:52.800 survive on the backs of the younger generations, we cannot deny that there are thousands of small 0.98

00:15:57.840 to medium churches with high populations of boomers, low thresholds for technology,

00:16:02.600 and limited financial reserves that, in an institutional sense, could be eliminated. 0.98

00:16:07.600 But more than that, the loss, or at least the decrease, of the compromised and the boomer

00:16:12.440 population is more than a financial dilemma. It's a pastoral dilemma. Not only are we potentially 0.98

00:16:18.280 losing a serious chunk of wisdom and life experience from our physical congregations,

00:16:22.860 but how are we to spiritually care for these individuals from afar? As you're going to see

00:16:27.860 in my second and third prediction, virtual church is not likely a reliable long-term solution,

00:16:34.400 especially for this demographic. My fourth prediction, however, may offer some insight

00:16:39.180 into solving the crisis of distant shepherding,

00:16:41.600 but only you can make that decision.

00:16:44.500 While these are simply speculations

00:16:46.000 dependent upon time to reveal their accuracy,

00:16:48.600 it should cause pastors and elders

00:16:50.440 to be sober-minded about the future possibility.

00:16:54.240 While the local church may, by God's grace,

00:16:56.220 bounce back better than I think,

00:16:57.920 I believe it's safe to say

00:16:59.400 that it will not be the same after this.

00:17:02.620 As shepherds, our number one responsibility

00:17:04.360 is not to keep the lights on and the salaries paid.

00:17:07.180 It's to spiritually nourish the sheep.

00:17:10.220 And for that reason, it's time to examine and prepare options to provide biblical and

00:17:15.020 fruitful paths for pastoring those in your local church who may not return in the near

00:17:20.260 future.

00:17:21.240 Prediction number two, virtual church will not sustain long-term spiritual health.

00:17:27.000 Recently, I made a statement on social media that implied watching a sermon on Sunday was

00:17:32.200 not church.

00:17:32.700 One woman, who was obviously offended by my claim, replied,

00:17:36.060 don't tell me that watching a sermon on Sunday isn't church. God has worked deeply in my life

00:17:42.540 through these online messages. And I'd like to break down the latter portion of this woman's 0.99

00:17:48.360 argument for a moment and then return to the former. To be clear, I'm not implying that you

00:17:52.580 hold her position, but I'm sure that you have friends or parishioners who do. First, let's be

00:17:57.520 sure that we understand that just because God uses something to edify his people does not mean

00:18:02.920 that we should replace his instructional process with anything that can produce a similar result.

00:18:08.220 For example, a neighbor might offer the fatherly love that your biological father failed to give.

00:18:13.740 This, however, does not mean that we should allow the neighborly father relationship to dominate or

00:18:19.560 replace God's instructed processes for fatherhood. No, the neighbor was, by God's mercy, the exception

00:18:25.800 to the rule, not the rule. The same is true with a virtual church experience. While it may produce

00:18:31.400 for some an edifying outcome, it should be treated as the exception, not as an equal

00:18:36.580 alternative to the local church.

00:18:38.720 Secondly, in regards to her opening words, don't tell me that watching a sermon on Sunday

00:18:43.380 isn't church.

00:18:44.720 I want to draw a comparison.

00:18:46.960 Let's imagine that someone said, don't tell me that loving affection isn't marriage.

00:18:51.620 My response would be something like, well, loving affection is a really important part

00:18:56.040 of marriage, but affection is not marriage.

00:18:58.820 In fact, marriage is much more complex than affection.

00:19:02.720 It requires a commitment before God, it calls for divinely appointed gender roles, and it

00:19:07.920 requires love and sacrifice and pursuit.

00:19:10.560 It also involves romance and fidelity and spiritual leadership, as well as a host of

00:19:14.440 other vital aspects.

00:19:16.140 Furthermore, God designed marriage not only for what it is, but for what it produces.

00:19:20.920 That is a God-centered family and home that has its own interwoven role in the furthering

00:19:25.940 of God's kingdom. 0.86

00:19:26.600 So to say that affection is marriage is a very superficial and almost silly statement.

00:19:32.520 The same is true when someone says that watching a sermon online is church.

00:19:36.960 Now, affection in a marriage is critical, just like a sermon in the local church is critical.

00:19:42.420 But likewise, just as affection does not equal marriage, nor does a sermon online equal church.

00:19:47.780 As you know, both marriage and the church are complex and robust.

00:19:51.580 As an example, the local church requires regularity, commitment, membership, communion,

00:19:57.080 baptism, corporate worship, church government by way of elders and deacons, church discipline,

00:20:02.080 gender roles, the exercising of spiritual gifts, the corporate prayer, biblical order,

00:20:07.480 accountability to scripture, fellowship with one another, mutual ministering through relationship,

00:20:12.660 giving and receiving, meeting the needs of the saints, and yes, the preaching of a sermon.

00:20:17.800 Ultimately, to diminish the church gathering to merely watching a sermon online and maybe

00:20:22.700 singing some songs from your couch is a great insult to the comprehensive church doctrine

00:20:27.620 found in scripture.

00:20:29.060 In fact, a validation of virtual church in equivalence with the historic church assembly

00:20:33.620 would likely offend the thousands of martyrs who gave up their lives so that Christians

00:20:38.780 could meet in person without religious persecution.

00:20:42.340 Mark Dever cuttingly affirms this need for a physical appearance by arguing that, quote,

00:20:47.080 Non-attendance in the early years of our church was considered one of the most sinister of sins

00:20:52.100 because it usually veiled all other sins.

00:20:55.160 When someone began to be in sin, you would expect them to stop attending.

00:21:00.160 Now, I understand the difference between the current need to participate in virtual church

00:21:03.960 due to the pandemic and someone who opts out of church attendance due to their sin.

00:21:08.760 But I want to look at this idea in principle.

00:21:11.840 Today, the modern church not only accepts absentee culture, it actually promotes it.

00:21:16.400 The virtual church is not simply a result of the coronavirus.

00:21:20.320 It's been growing in the back of the garden for years, and it's going to continue to grow.

00:21:24.560 As you likely understand, virtual church fits nicely into the pragmatism of today's pastoral CEOs,

00:21:30.360 who seem to be more concerned with the width of their flock than its depth.

00:21:34.860 But as Mr. Dever points out, isolation, autonomy, and independence, regardless of their cause,

00:21:40.140 are not generally fruitful virtues seen throughout church history.

00:21:44.480 In short, there are a lot of things that we can do on the internet.

00:21:48.240 We can work with colleagues, play games, watch movies, listen to worship music, and interact

00:21:52.820 with friends across the globe.

00:21:54.420 But just like you can't ride a horse or sleep under the stars online, you can't experience

00:21:59.540 church either.

00:22:00.980 Just like you cannot father your son full-time from the internet or maintain a thriving marriage

00:22:06.720 over Zoom, you also cannot sustain a healthy flock of God's people without the tangible,

00:22:12.080 relational, and physical local church. The church, as you know, is a living organism made up of social

00:22:18.720 creatures who thrive on the interpersonal relationships found within the body of Christ.

00:22:23.320 The megachurches will likely pounce on the virtual church concept as their solution

00:22:28.340 to the institutional problems, but it will not solve their spiritual problems. The internet,

00:22:34.200 as effective as it may be as a bridge and a tool during this coronavirus pandemic,

00:22:38.460 is not and cannot be heralded as a legitimate substitute for the local church going forward.

00:22:45.920 Prediction number three, the birth of congregational globalism. During the first few

00:22:51.120 Sundays of the United States quarantine, I noticed a few telling trends emerge in church culture.

00:22:56.260 First, I saw hundreds of Christians spontaneously embark on church shopping voyages for the best

00:23:02.200 online service they could find. In a quick and liberating fashion, those who may have attended

00:23:06.940 smaller churches for years seem to have abandoned their local congregations to find the institutions

00:23:11.460 that could best quench their consumer needs. In fact, I saw several Christian influencers post

00:23:16.360 lists of, quote, great churches to check out during your quarantine, end quote, as if remaining loyal

00:23:23.040 to your local church through their virtual means was not ideal or recommended. As you know, the

00:23:29.120 winner of this shopping contest is not earned by accurate doctrine or by relational loyalty to other

00:23:34.540 church members, but by the church with the most persuasive and captivating communication, music,

00:23:39.120 and marketing. What this tells me is in a time of virtual church fueled by fear of disease and

00:23:45.480 self-preservation, local loyalty will no longer be native to the average churchgoer. In fact,

00:23:51.480 I believe we're going to see the seeds of the globalist DNA that surrounds us

00:23:55.000 manifest itself in a new way in the church. Now, while many of you have likely heard of the term

00:24:01.400 globalism, I expect that some of you might not understand what that really means. So let me

00:24:05.560 offer you a basic definition. Globalism is the convergence of political, cultural, and technological

00:24:11.780 systems that offer an increased connection between people, and as a result, distribute the controlling

00:24:18.340 power from one location across many locations. Now at the center, globalism is an antonym of

00:24:25.740 nationalism. Think local church versus internet church. It disseminates content and control from

00:24:31.700 a national or local perspective to a global or online perspective. Now, if you're not seeing

00:24:37.180 that definition being played out in principle before your eyes in the church today, it's time

00:24:42.840 to pinch yourself and wake up. Congregational globalism will be alluring and captivating. Now,

00:24:48.360 why? Because it is a good friend of our flesh. Namely, when the local expression of church

00:24:54.000 is removed and replaced with the virtual expression of church, congregational accountability disappears

00:24:59.940 and personal independence goes through the roof. It's a perfect recipe for our self-centered

00:25:04.700 culture. Now, was this caused by the coronavirus? Of course not. However, it was absolutely amplified

00:25:11.500 by it. Six weeks ago, this was a small fire burning at the base of a mountain. The coronavirus

00:25:16.700 was the gust of wind that propelled the flames deep into the woods. In other words, those who

00:25:22.100 were slow to virtual church and were held back by their local convictions have now been forced

00:25:27.780 to taste the self-coddling goodness and convenience of the personalized, sanitized, and private

00:25:34.320 virtual church. This shouldn't be a shock to anyone either. The Western church has primed us

00:25:40.300 for this moment for many years. By building congregations around consumer-centric events

00:25:45.600 instead of a contributor-centric gathering, me has become king and we falls to the backdrop.

00:25:53.320 Allow me to illustrate. For the past several decades, the Western church has increasingly

00:25:57.880 built the Sunday assembly around a theatrical and entertaining musical performance and a highly

00:26:03.220 applicable TEDx-style talk sermon. And this is why modern churchgoers look for a church based

00:26:10.980 on the following criteria. Number one, do I like their worship music? Number two, do I like the

00:26:17.060 pastor? Number three, do they offer good kids programs? Number four, do they offer a coffee

00:26:22.700 shop? Number five, do they have a clean and safe campus? As you can see, we have nurtured a strong

00:26:29.480 consumer appetite. Few Christians look for churches based on the orthodoxy preached or

00:26:34.800 doctrinal accuracy observed. The church at large is not hungering for deep accountable relationships

00:26:40.240 or the spiritual safety of biblical eldership.

00:26:43.160 Instead, they're looking for infotainment and self-help.

00:26:46.840 Consequently, this has taught us

00:26:48.380 that the church is not about corporate life.

00:26:51.080 It's actually about a time for me

00:26:53.020 to individually focus on God.

00:26:55.060 And when you combine these two realities together,

00:26:57.580 good consumer content and personal worship,

00:26:59.980 you quickly learn that your disinfected living room

00:27:03.240 free of coughing strangers

00:27:04.600 offers a far more effective environment

00:27:06.700 for both content consumption

00:27:08.040 and intimate time for worship.

00:27:10.240 For that reason, my prediction is that virtual church variety will be king.

00:27:14.880 In fact, it already is.

00:27:16.280 How many podcasts and books and sermons do you consume each month?

00:27:20.040 Why not extend that practice to Sunday?

00:27:22.340 If you listen to worship music of this church and the sermons from that church throughout

00:27:27.500 the week, what's stopping you from doing that on your Sunday worship?

00:27:31.520 That is, why would you only listen to the Sunday message online from your local church

00:27:36.080 in Smallville when you could listen to a rotation of the greatest musicians on earth paired with

00:27:42.460 messages from highly gifted pastors who speak to your current needs. Do you see where I'm going?

00:27:47.980 Congregational globalism has been coming for us since the internet boom in the early 2000s,

00:27:52.740 but now, in great credit to the coronavirus, it's here in tall order. Pastors must start

00:27:58.140 teaching on the necessity of congregational loyalty and the vital need for local biblical

00:28:03.960 relationships with those in your church community. Prediction number four, smaller will be viewed as

00:28:11.300 safer. I think local churches can learn something from the current trends seen in education. The

00:28:17.260 homeschooling revival, even prior to the coronavirus, has been built upon a variety of factors, but in

00:28:22.700 recent years, it's been driven by safety and personalization. First and foremost, with the rise

00:28:27.840 of school shootings and viral infections, parents are more intentional with placing their children

00:28:32.440 in safer and less hygienically vulnerable public environments.

00:28:36.240 Secondly, parents are looking for a more personalized

00:28:38.740 and intimate education experience for their children.

00:28:41.520 Why?

00:28:42.120 Well, because the evidence is everywhere.

00:28:43.780 Students produce better results

00:28:45.160 in smaller learning environments

00:28:46.740 than they do in classes of 30 to 45 children.

00:28:49.780 Don Ernst, the Director of Government Relations

00:28:51.660 with the Association for Supervision

00:28:53.320 and Curriculum Development, even says,

00:28:55.820 quote, smaller class size enhances learning

00:28:58.660 for a basic common sense reason.

00:29:00.560 It helps teachers in getting to know the kids.

00:29:03.780 You can get to know 15 kids better

00:29:05.540 than you can get to know 35 kids.

00:29:08.060 This logic, however, isn't specific to education.

00:29:11.200 It's universal.

00:29:12.880 People thrive in smaller groups.

00:29:14.860 Actually, the human brain is only designed

00:29:16.840 to be close to five to 15 people.

00:29:19.360 Homeschooling, especially homeschooling co-ops

00:29:21.440 like Classical Conversations, are booming

00:29:23.680 because they offer a strong solution

00:29:25.480 to these parents' important desires.

00:29:27.660 But as I said in the opening line of the section,

00:29:29.560 local churches can learn much from these trends in the education industry.

00:29:34.060 As the president of a home church planting ministry and school,

00:29:37.340 you might think that I'm biased about what I'm about to say. 1.00

00:29:40.560 Nevertheless, I do believe it's true. 0.89

00:29:42.980 From my vantage point, the home church trends, while smaller,

00:29:46.580 seem to be in lockstep with the home school trends.

00:29:49.620 What do I mean by this?

00:29:50.880 Just like those parents who are seeking out a smaller and more intimate expression of learning, 0.71

00:29:54.880 I'm also seeing Christians who are seeking out a smaller and more intimate expression of church.

00:30:00.240 While this may seem in conflict with my previous point regarding a boom in congregational globalism,

00:30:05.280 it's not. I still predict that while we retain religious freedom, the majority of Christians 0.90

00:30:10.000 will indulge in virtual church. That said, I believe there is a strong subgroup of thousands

00:30:15.380 upon thousands of Christians who are and will seek out both small and safe expressions of local

00:30:21.680 church. In other words, just as we were watching the homeschool community become a solution to

00:30:26.360 the weakness and threats of the current education system, my prediction is that home churching will

00:30:31.780 become a solution to the weaknesses and threats of the current church system. As a matter of fact,

00:30:38.000 we're seeing this prediction unfold before our very eyes. Whether we liked it or not,

00:30:42.500 the coronavirus has caused millions upon millions of people to begin both homeschooling and home

00:30:47.360 churching. But herein lies the problem. What is a home church? Is it simply a glorified small group

00:30:52.820 Bible study? Is it just you and your family members watching church online? Is it family

00:30:57.140 worship combined with reading and prayer? Actually, it's none of these. A home church is exactly what

00:31:02.800 it says it is, a church in the home. And as I explained in my second prediction, the church is

00:31:08.900 complex and far more robust than a sermon and some songs. The biblical church is deeply entrenched

00:31:15.280 in doctrinal positions, processes, and responsibilities.

00:31:18.520 Interestingly, the hesitancy and skepticism

00:31:20.440 of both homeschooling and homechurching

00:31:22.560 have been driven by a lack of complexity and structure.

00:31:25.860 People imagine that both homeschool

00:31:27.740 and homechurch folks are odd, unaccountable hippies

00:31:30.780 finding independent expression with no structure or rules.

00:31:34.480 While that may be true for some,

00:31:36.060 it is certainly not true of our ministry

00:31:37.860 and the homechurches that we help plant.

00:31:40.320 A local church is not an organization, it's an organism,

00:31:43.640 but every organism must have organization. It's my prediction that the coronavirus may act like

00:31:50.060 a thunderbolt that ignites a fire for house-churching, especially for those who see

00:31:55.320 the bankruptcy of long-term virtual church and are concerned about the health risks of larger

00:32:00.040 crowds. A home church offers the ecclesiastical structure of a traditional church without the

00:32:05.680 coughing and sense of disconnection often experienced in larger crowds. While I don't

00:32:10.200 expect this fire of house churches to dominate in any way, or at least not for now, I do believe

00:32:15.500 the conditions are strongly supportive of initiating a house church revival here in the

00:32:20.160 West. Lastly, I want to offer a small but compelling thought for those pastoring larger

00:32:26.460 local congregations. Because traditional church gatherings are categorized as one of those

00:32:31.880 activities that promote transmission, I expect for a time the secular world may persecute those

00:32:38.100 congregations who decide to gather even when it's made legally permitted. That is due to the concern

00:32:43.520 for a resurgence of the virus as a result of a rapid societal reintroduction. Their logic will

00:32:49.400 derive from a, quote, just because you can doesn't mean you should mentality. I expect that their

00:32:55.020 argument, because they lack the understanding of the importance of physical gathering, will state

00:33:00.100 that large church gatherings are basically putting public health at risk. While I may be incorrect in

00:33:05.240 this prediction, it does seem to be a viable possibility and pastors must be prepared for it

00:33:10.740 if it comes. All that to say, it's our hope to serve those who feel called to gather in a smaller

00:33:16.980 expression of church. We feel the Lord has specifically prepared us to support Christians

00:33:21.780 in moments like these. For that reason, our ministry has created a variety of resources

00:33:26.880 to help those who feel that call. First, we offer a PDF titled The Basics of Biblical House Church.

00:33:33.420 You could find that at relearnchurch.org forward slash house that you can download for free.

00:33:39.340 Secondly, I wrote a new book recently titled House Church, The Doctrines, Convictions,

00:33:45.320 and Liturgy of a Biblical House Church.

00:33:47.840 You can get that at shop.relearnchurch.org or on Amazon.

00:33:52.700 That offers a comprehensive look at how the traditional church doctrines are carried out

00:33:58.080 in a home.

00:33:59.120 Lastly, for those interested in planting and pastoring a biblical house church,

00:34:02.960 We offer a one-year seminary-grade online Diploma of Ecclesiology program for men that

00:34:08.840 can be found at stjustins.org.

00:34:11.920 While pastoring a house church may seem financially unsustainable for those accustomed to a consistent

00:34:18.000 salary, I want to assure you that healthy house churches with mature believers often

00:34:23.160 provide a good supplemental income.

00:34:25.520 We understand this is a whole new world for those used to the traditional church experience,

00:34:30.640 And we want you to know that we are here to support your journey.

00:34:34.560 A closing note of encouragement to pastors.

00:34:37.720 All around us, the world is being decentralized, delocalized, and democratized.

00:34:42.380 Big hotel chains now compete with the 23-year-old who has an extra room for rent in their house on Airbnb.

00:34:48.880 Yellow Taxi now shares the market with the student who has a Prius and is looking for some side cash.

00:34:54.540 The public school system is losing students to homeschool co-ops.

00:34:58.040 For the traditional church to experience the same type of diversification with the virtual

00:35:03.060 church and house church movements, it should be of no surprise.

00:35:06.760 The coronavirus magnified the moment and sped up the timing.

00:35:10.760 But as I said early in the article, God is sovereign over all of this.

00:35:15.260 In fact, in Matthew 16, 18, Jesus says, I will build my church and the gates of hell

00:35:20.800 shall not prevail against it.

00:35:22.620 The Lord is building his bride and we can rest in that reality.

00:35:27.280 In 1 Corinthians 12, 18, Paul tells us,

00:35:30.140 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.

00:35:35.680 As shepherds, we can stop worrying about how to persuade and keep men with gimmicks and programs and beauty.

00:35:43.000 I've learned that what you win people with is what you win people to.

00:35:47.080 As pastors, it's our job to win people to the gospel, the Bible, and the local church.

00:35:52.580 That's it.

00:35:53.620 In the end, I want to remind you that it's not your responsibility to maintain an institution.

00:36:00.200 It's your responsibility to oversee the spiritual health of the sheep the Lord has entrusted to you.

00:36:06.140 Part of that requires a clear understanding of the external realities, threats, and temptations facing those in your congregation.

00:36:13.720 If the coronavirus leaves you with a smaller flock than what you had, praise God.

00:36:18.740 If the coronavirus leaves you without a building,

00:36:21.220 consider distributing your sheep 1.00

00:36:22.420 into smaller biblical house churches. 0.99

00:36:24.480 I'm happy to help.

00:36:25.280 You can contact me on our website.

00:36:27.200 My central goal in this article

00:36:28.980 was simply to serve pastors

00:36:30.920 by helping them be aware and be prepared

00:36:33.680 for what might come over the next few months to years.

00:36:37.500 God is in control and we can trust in his plan.

00:36:40.120 My predictions may be right or completely wrong.

00:36:42.720 In truth, the only thing that can really matter

00:36:45.160 is that we continue to be faithful ministers

00:36:47.760 of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

00:36:50.380 To him be the glory.

00:36:52.540 All right, guys, that was the article in totality.

00:36:56.480 Wow, that was a lot of reading.

00:36:58.180 I felt like I was doing my audio book

00:37:00.760 for one of my books again.

00:37:03.580 We'll have a few edits there for my editor to take care of.

00:37:08.560 But thank you guys for listening.

00:37:10.320 I hope that's an encouraging article for you.

00:37:13.200 I hope that this is a good perspective for you

00:37:15.560 to understand what's happening here in the local church.

00:37:18.660 If it becomes a resource to send to your pastor,

00:37:21.620 again, they can find the article at St. Justin's,

00:37:24.940 that's S-T-Justins, plural, stjustins.org forward slash coronavirus.

00:37:31.060 And that should be an easy find for them.

00:37:33.020 It should be a really helpful tool,

00:37:34.400 or you can pass them this episode.

00:37:36.620 If you're a regular listener to our podcast,

00:37:39.460 I'd just like to ask you to leave a review

00:37:41.240 if you haven't already.

00:37:42.720 You can just go to the Apple iTunes

00:37:44.420 and you just tap the stars.

00:37:45.700 You don't even need to write anything.

00:37:47.020 That'd be really helpful

00:37:47.780 for continuing the exposure of our show.

00:37:50.360 Next week, we have a really great show coming up.

00:37:52.680 Excited to get hopefully back

00:37:54.100 in a little bit of normal,

00:37:55.440 back into some preaching

00:37:56.260 and back into some discussion

00:37:57.680 with Veronica in the coming weeks.

00:37:59.360 Thanks for joining us today

00:38:00.280 and we'll see you guys next time.

00:38:02.300 Thank you for joining us

00:38:03.540 on this episode of Real Christianity.

00:38:05.960 Real Christianity is an audio ministry

00:38:07.880 of relearnchurch.org.

00:38:09.940 If you'd like more information

00:38:11.300 on how to live out a biblical life,

00:38:13.420 RelearnChurch.org hosts a variety of articles, podcasts, sermons, and videos to support your journey.

00:38:20.000 Real Christianity is a 100% listener-supported ministry.

00:38:23.500 And if you'd like to support our efforts, simply click the Donate tab at RelearnChurch.org.

00:38:28.660 You can also connect with both Veronica and I on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for daily lessons and Bible teachings.

00:38:35.600 Thank you for being with us today.

00:38:36.920 We hope to see you next Wednesday for another episode of Real Christianity.

00:38:42.940 Thank you.

Dale Partridge - April 08, 2020

Real Christianity #92： How Coronavirus Might Change the Local Church, Forever

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