A Fork in the Road

 

By:  Dale Weckbacher

 

Text:  Joshua 24:14-28

 

Joshua 24:15

And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

(ESV)

 

The chaos of the times in which we live today has complicated decisions that were once simple.  For example, the decision of whether I can go to my favorite restaurant, sporting event, concert, the store, or even to Church that were once simple with the only complicating factors being if I had the means to go there and pay for it.  Now people must decide if the venue is open and if they can leave their home.  Even the decision to follow the Lord God and freely worship Him is becoming more difficult in countries legally protecting freedom of religion as the government is beginning to unfairly prohibit Churches from freely gathering to practice their faith. 

 

The text of Joshua 24:14-28 begins with Joshua challenging the people of Israel to determine who they will serve after he is gone, affirming his decision to follow the Lord God (Joshua 24:14-15).  The people of Israel respond to the challenge by affirming their decision to serve and obey the Lord God three times (Joshua 24:16, 21, 24).  Joshua then establishes the covenant of the people of Israel by writing it down and setting up a memorial stone by the sanctuary of God as a reminder of their decision to follow the Lord God (Joshua 24:26-27). 

 

The founding documents of the United States established a Godly foundation for the United States.  To protect this Godly foundation, the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects the freedom to freely practice religion as well as the freedom of speech, freedom to peacefully assemble, and the freedom of the press.  However, Covid19 and violent protests have put these freedoms in jeopardy with restrictions on public gatherings and the free practice of Christianity which includes gathering together (Hebrews 10:25). 

 

However, even though there are restrictions on gathering, the government has not forbidden the worship of God and still allows teaching from the pulpit to occur online.  The challenge for the Church is how to promote fellowship among believers in an online environment.  Here are a couple of suggestions,

 

1)      Watch parties – The webcasting of services online makes them available on any device with internet access.  Smart TV technology has made it possible to stream video to a big screen TV so a group of people can watch.  Fellowship can occur through people opening up their homes to a limited number of people that wear masks and practice social distancing to a watch party to view either a live stream or recorded church service online.  The owner of the home can enforce safety protocols and ensure they sanitize their home both before and after the watch party.

2)      Small group Bible studies – Initially, the Church met in people’s homes where believers broke bread and had fellowship (Act 2:46-47).  Granted these believers also met in the Temple but what if the Temple moves online due to social distancing restrictions?  When this occurs, the importance of small group gatherings becomes even more important for not only fellowship but a deeper study of the Bible in a small group setting.  Many larger Churches already have some form of small group gatherings in place and should promote participation in these studies and add additional groups to ensure the groups do not exceed the governmental restrictions in the community. 

 

These guidelines apply for situations restricting Church group meetings, but what if governmental restrictions escalate to the point of making religious gatherings, including preaching online illegal.  At this point, the Church must remain focused on its Biblical mission of spreading the Gospel and making disciples (Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:19-20).  Peter and John were told not to preach about Jesus (Acts 4:18-21), and disobeyed this command, remaining focused on the mission of the Church.  However, as situations change the Church may need to change strategies for fulfilling its mission like quietly sharing the news of Peter’s angelic jailbreak to other believers to avoid the rearrest of Peter and those gathered praying for him (Acts 12:17). 

 

The year 2020 has been a year when many Churches find themselves at a fork in the road.  For smaller Churches that could not live stream services, they either had to find a means of recording services for later uploading online or disband due to the failure to gather together.  For larger churches already live streaming or making recorded messages available, the fork involved helping their congregations move towards meeting online.  The challenge for these larger churches is in how to have fellowship occur when people are attending Church online.  The answer to this fork in the road is in watch parties and small group gatherings.  While the Church has not arrived at the fork of gatherings to worship God declared illegal, Churches should pray this day never comes and for guidance if it does.  My prayer is that God will continue to give guidance to the leadership of the Church so they can choose the right path during these unprecedented times.