Short Take #2: Andy Stanley and Churches Meeting In Person

Here is another short take from The Christian Worldview with David Wheaton. Eric, I want to read a comment by a well-known evangelical leader named Andy Stanley. He said recently, the thing that has been concerning to me about the local church is how quickly so many churches felt like we've got to get back into our building, shoulder to shoulder, doing what we've always done.

It was the exact wrong response to COVID because we had an opportunity of a lifetime to do new things, try new things, experiment with new things, because we couldn't do the old things. And instead of focusing on what we can't do, we should have been 100% focused on what we can do. I thought, again, Andy Stanley, wait a minute, we're the body of Christ. We're not in it to win it. As you're in it to win it, you've abandoned our New Testament mandate. We're in it to serve.

And there is more need than there's ever been. He said, I'm so proud of our staff and our churches. North Point is a group of churches he leads, and the adults in our church who put up with me saying, no, we're not going to meet. I know the church down the streets meeting, but we are intentionally redeploying and refocusing our attention at this time because this is a unique opportunity and it's going to come to an end, but we need to take full advantage of that opportunity. He said, you inspire people to follow Jesus.

That's our mission. You date the model. I think there's kind of a play on words there, shoulder to shoulder in a building, singing songs and worshiping and listening to sermons.

All that is is a model. And during this season, he concludes, you abandon the model of meeting in person for the sake of the mission. You inspire people to follow Jesus.

That's what he says the mission is. But the local church is that abandoned the mission for the sake of the model and rush back into the model. I feel like we in some cases miss an extraordinary opportunity, especially the churches that got in a spitting match with local and state governments. That was just embarrassing to me as a Christian. Again, that's Andy Stanley, one of the most influential and well-known evangelicals in this country. Eric, what is your response to Andy Stanley's perspective on meeting in person for churches?

Honestly, that's pretty discouraging to me. I wonder if we would say that to the churches in China or the churches across the Roman Empire for the first three centuries in which Christianity was illegal. And they so desperately loved to gather together to worship. Granted, they did it in different ways.

They had to go underground. But you know, the idea that, well, we don't need to gather for worship. We're going to do the mission. That's a misunderstanding of the Christian life. Worship is always the top priority. And if you don't have, without worship, you're not going to be able to do anything else. Without true worship, you don't have anything else. All things in the Christian life flow out of worship. Well, I can worship God on a mountain or in my neighborhood on a hike. You certainly can, and praise God for that.

That's a great joy. But the New Testament commands us that prescriptively and descriptively, we are to gather with the local body of Christ for worship. It's not God has not given the government the right, the authority to dictate Christian worship.

He's given them the authority to do other things. Romans 13, First Peter 2, 13 to 17, right? To collect taxes, to bear the sword upon evil, which is actual evil and reward the righteous.

That's a misnomer. It's a misunderstanding of the Christian life. All things flow out of worship. Well, what's worship to look like among other things? Gathering with God's people. Hebrews 10, 24 to 25, among other things. God's people desperately need to be fed in the context and in the way of corporate worship, especially in times like these where we've seen studies over the past 12 months, David, that have shown how depression and mental illness and suicide, all these things have just skyrocketed.

Well, why is that? Well, because human beings, generally speaking, are meant to be together, to have face-to-face interaction. And biblically speaking, that is meant to take place preeminently in the context of a local church with a local pastor who's been trained, affirmed by existing qualified elders to raise up this individual and pour into and preach the word and music and the one another's and prayer. And God has decided that is the preeminent way that I have decided to love and care and shepherd my people through my undershepherds as a regular way of life and hardship and world pandemics, though they're difficult, they're real, they cause true suffering. We're not to shelve this essential way which our great God and our chief shepherd, the Lord Jesus, has decided to care for us through these means of grace and such times. If ever, if ever a time is needed to gather, it is now, David. This has been a short take from The Christian Worldview with David Wheaton. To find out more about The Christian Worldview, order resources, make a donation, become a monthly partner or contact us, visit thechristianworldview.org. You can also call us at toll-free 1-888-646-2233 or write to us at Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota 55331. That's Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota 55331.