I went to church on Sunday, in person. There were a lot of noticeable changes from pre-pandemic times. Everyone had their temperature taken at the door. There were arrows indicating acceptable directions in which to walk. Many of the pews were made unavailable for use. The number of people present was less than half of what it was before COVID. There were references made from the front to those who were joining online.
It’s an open question, where things are headed for churches. As sporting and cultural venues fill up again, as restaurants return to capacity, will churches get back to numbers they had in early 2020? Will some churches grow while others get smaller? Will multi-campus churches continue to negatively impact community based churches drawing people from smaller congregations to further build up their little kingdoms? More interestingly, will people take up new ways of gathering, new ways of being part of a church that are less dependent on Sunday morning attendance?
We don’t know yet. Anyone who tells you that they know what the long term consequences of COVID will be on churches is speculating. Some people have educated and informed guesses, but they are still not certainties.
My personal sense is that we should not aim to try to hang on to something that may not have been most effective in Christian witness and life. We ought to be open to new ways of gathering. I have also attended a church recently that actually stopped doing Sunday morning services and switched to services every other week on Sunday afternoons. These services have communion and some music and some prayer, but they are simple. They are not trying to be elaborate productions. I’ve been blessed by attending. On the alternate Sundays, that particular church gathers in small groups in homes.
The church I was at this past Sunday was more of the church classic variety; pews and morning service, a sanctuary that looked like a church. I was blessed by attending there as well and found the sermon to be engaging and challenging. The text was Mark 10:35-45, the story of James and John asking Jesus to assure them that they would get to sit on either side of him in glory. He told them that they didn’t get how things work. As I listened to the sermon I thought of a couple of television shows that Jen and I have been watching recently. One is called, “The Morning Show” (Apple TV). It features Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carrell among other considerable stars. The other show is called “Maid” (Netflix) and it has a less star-studded, though not entirely unknown, cast. “The Morning Show” tells the fictional story of the cast, crew and management of a major television network. “Maid” tells the mostly non-fictional account of a young mom, living in poverty who cleans houses in order to pay the bills.
When James and John came to Jesus and asked that they get the seats beside him in glory they were assuming that the way of Jesus was the way of the world. That is, the best possible thing that can happen to you is to have people look up to you, to have people pay tribute to you and to recognize your greatness. As I have watched, “The Morning Show” I have come to see that every character seems to be aiming to get to the top. If someone is already at the top then they are doing whatever they can to remain there and to stave off new and ever-present threats. The ultra-rich on the show are ultra-paranoid. The show does a good job of presenting the insecurity of the powerful. I find myself asking if this is how it really is. Are “successful” people really this insecure, almost without exception? The world of “The Morning Show” is filled with luxury apartments, personal assistants, world travel and plenty of people who feed the ego of those above them mostly as strategy to move up themselves.
”Maid” on the other hand depicts how many more people live. The main character in the show faces so many obstacles and challenges that it is emotionally tiring at times to watch. It is a reminder that many people face such challenges every day. The young mom in the story is often looked down upon simply because of her poverty. Many people use the strikes against her to give themselves permission to demean her even further. The system is stacked against her while it apparently works in favour of people like those depicted in “The Morning Show”. Without romanticizing poverty, the humanity of people in “Maid” is much easier to see than the humanity of people in “The Morning Show”. “The Morning Show” is compelling as a depiction of those always seeking to move up, even those already exceptional by standard measures of success. “Maid” is compelling because the young mom is moved to see the humanity of others as she cleans houses of people who have suffered greatly, in some cases more than she has.
When James and John ask Jesus for privileged positions of power he replies by telling them that they don’t get it. He says that they don’t know what they are asking if they are trying to be associated with him, but think that what he brings is power and status. Jesus goes on to say, to James and John and the other disciples who he calls together on this occasion, that there is a way that the world works in terms of hierarchy and respect that is entirely different to the way the kingdom of God works. The world’s way is to go higher, to aim for more, to become bigger and more recognized, even more famous. The way God’s kingdom works is to move down instead of up. It is a way of humility, a way of moving towards the least and forgotten rather than away from them.
“The Morning Show” actually does a good job of showing the desolation of earthly success. What good is it if you gain the whole world and lose your soul? “Maid” humanizes people who are often ignored, forgotten or disdained in our culture. It is something worth noting that according to Jesus, the way in which we find freedom and life is a downward, not upward, way. Clearly we still have trouble believing this, let alone acting upon it.
I read today that the football coach at Washington State University was fired because he refuses to be vaccinated against COVID 19. There are all kinds of interesting notes in the story, but the most heinous to me was the note that he was the highest paid state employee. This is because of what Jesus was telling James and John about. This is the way that the world works. The world values people who are good at coaching football (coaches have become celebrities in the United States and some other places) over people who are good at caring for those in need, or at teaching or at governing or administrating. It was as if Jesus was saying to James and John, “You are asking for the adulation that comes to celebrity talk show hosts or football coaches. Aim for something better than that. Aim to give your life for those in need. Aim to become less, not more.”
Jesus reminds us that those who give their lives for his sake (give their lives as he has) will be the ones who truly find life.
I might have a difficult time watching The Morning Show because of its intention but I did love the series Maid.
When you were a pastor I made a lot of notes. Thankfully, I still have them.
I always loved that you asked us to Aim to become less not more.
We have attended three different churches recently. No one asked to take our temperature.
I still love being in a church. I don’t know yet if I will choose just one..
The people that I see as “great” do not see themselves as great at all. Rather, they are the ones who give their time and intention to raise up others.