The Sad Truth About Virtual Church

 

2020 changed the nature of the church as we know it. When many churches were forced to close their doors and restrict services because of COVID-19, what we saw was a huge rise in the number of churches offering online services for their members who weren’t able to physically come to the church for worship. Initially, this was a great thing because it was a way to continue having worship together while we couldn’t physically be together and it helped churches extend their reach beyond what they might have been able to before. What could have been a dark, lonely time for the church was a way to innovate and get creative with ministry. However, I think that as I look back now what actually happened could seriously damage the ability of the church to do ministry. 

Hebrews 10.25 tells us not to neglect meeting together. Our physical gathering to worship in song and the Word together and the fellowship that happens, as a result, is the lifeblood of Christian life. We need each other to live this life of following Christ. Body parts can’t exist or survive separately from each other, and the body of Christ can’t survive if we aren’t doing life together. What we’ve done by creating a “virtual church” is give people an excuse to not come to church and engage in worship and fellowship with other believers. That is a recipe for disaster, in my opinion. We need to be encouraging in-person worship and sharing the experience with other believers in the way God intended when the early church was established in Acts. I don’t think we should do away with recording or streaming services, because they are a great resource for those who are physically unable to attend church. But I think we should be faithful to Scripture and make in-person worship the primary way that we worship as a church.

In a world of technological advances like ours, the church can’t afford not to adapt along with the times. However, we cannot abandon the commands of Scripture for the sake of “relevancy.” As we seek to use technology, like streaming or recording worship, wisely, we must seek God’s guidance in how to do it properly so that we best serve the church and bring Him glory!