For many, this Easter will be much like the last with colorful baskets filled with goodies for the little ones. Eggs scattered throughout the yard and families around the dinner table. The dogwoods are in full bloom and the azaleas are popping. Make no mistake, however, this Easter will be different.
This Easter a majority of our churches will gather to celebrate the Risen Lord, Jesus, but the pews will be far more empty. The last two years of the pandemic have allowed many to fade into the comfort of their couches or hide behind their calendars. Granted, some churches are recovering in their overall attendance and participation, but far more are struggling. Congregants will look around this Easter and remember the people who sat in their particular spots throughout the sanctuary, week in and week out not too long ago. They will see their faces, remember their smiles and their friendly “Hellos,” but it will only be shadows of what was then, not now.
On the back side of this global pandemic, one of the predicaments that has hurt the local church the worst is not those saints who have been called home to Glory over the last two years, for whatever reason. It’s the people who have replaced their commitment to the local church with something else. For some, their pajamas and podcasts or online services have made Christianity far too comfortable. For some, it reveals their lack of commitment to Christ and to His Church altogether. For some, they have simply replaced this sacred weekly time to gather and worship with something else that has now become priority in their lives. The truth is, there’s a myriad of reasons as to why our churches have been purged by more than a third over the last two years. However, very few of those reasons hold any validity. Man is a creature of habit, and those habits we pour into will be the habits that we will act on regularly in our lives.
If you are a professing Christian and you find yourself neglecting your local church body, be reminded that you are in sin, and you need to repent. A body needs all of its members to function properly. When a member of the body chooses to separate itself from the body, can it legitimately claim to still be part of the body? Can it claim and expect the benefits of the body? Or was it ever really a member of the body from the beginning? These are hard questions, for sure, intended to cause us to pause and consider our ways, and I sincerely hope WE ALL do!
This Easter will be different for another reason, as well. The Lord’s promise that the fields are “white unto harvest” continues to prove true, as some of those empty spots in the pews are getting filled with new smiles and new laughter. And I PRAISE God for it, and for that, there is great joy to partake in!
I, also, realize this brief word will bring about negative comments and cries of improper judgment and all the works. So be it! However, this word is not a call to condemnation but rather a call to accountability, repentance and duty in Christ! If you’re reading this and find yourself at odds with the argument, ask yourself, “Why?” and then talk to God about it.
As a small rural church pastor, I long for the day when the health of our churches matter to more than to just a handful of faithful saints in a given church. Do your part! Repent of your sin! Come back to the fold! And let’s get back to work building the Kingdom of God for the sake of Him who sits upon the throne of God, King Jesus. He is worth it!
