Mark the date: December 8, 2020, the day England started vaccinating people against COVID-19. The United States would start vaccinating on the 14th, which means we are also moving into the next phase in the battle against the disease. In at least one news report I heard someone say that we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. While not everyone agrees, there are many for whom these vaccines are a source of hope. It’s a promise that we might be able to revive the world’s economies and that we might be able to gather without worrying about super spreader events. The vaccines have brought hope. And as I think about this I also find myself wondering where the church has been during the last 9 months of the pandemic. Specifically has the church been a source of hope during a time when hope is exactly what people needed?
From time to time over the last nine months I have seen churches doing things like feeding people and even working with doctors to get people tested for COVID-19. I do believe that on the local level churches across this country (and around the world) have done their best to help people survive the fallout from this pandemic. I’m not knocking those churches and denominations that have done their best out of love for their neighbors but I do knock the press that did not give these heroes the attention they deserve. Somehow, even though many believers reached out to others, the national story about the church seemed all too often to be about something else.
All too often over the last nine months, when Christians made the news it was about something other than offering hope to their neighbors. Usually churches were in the news because they were fighting against the local government. For the record, I struggle with the idea of restrictions on worship services while bars and casinos are allowed to stay open. At the same time I believe churches can and should deal with this without demonizing officials who are just trying to do what they think best. I also find it amusing that so many of us fight for the right to fill our pews while being critical of those who stand for the right of blacks to live without having to fear that an armed government official might take away their lives.
So, as man made vaccines bring hope to mankind, maybe it’s time for the church to do some self examination. Maybe it’s time for the church to look at its message. Are we offering hope to the world based on the teachings of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ? Are we the ones people turn to when life looks hopeless? COVID causing emotional and mental distress, is the church ready to minister? Are we still letting people know that God does exist and yes, He cares? If we are not a source of hope in tough times, then what exactly is the church?
