Responding to God’s love and grace, we are a welcoming, faithful, and hopeful community, following Jesus and serving him in the world.
- The Vision Statement of 2nd Presbyterian Church
Thank you for continuing the communication. It's helpful and comforting. "Non-essential" is really a stretch - isn't it? I certainly don't agree. We a require more than physical care, as you know. I think the "scientific" community is just describing services from another point of view. Keep your ego intact! 😂 I would love to hear It is Well With My Soul. Stay safe and well.
The ancient Israelites implemented quarantines and social distancing in ancient times, as documented in Numbers. Moses took his guidance from God, something that would benefit our leaders today. Laws the Israelites followed were put in place to protect everyone, which was essential for their survival. We have learned so much since then, that some of us have forgotten that God is the source of all knowledge. Who knows what might happen if the secular world saw church as "essential?"
When I first heard this I thought "What kind of world is this where liquor stores are essential but church is not." But, and maybe I'm being to generous, the question what is essential to be "open." Our faith does not require a roof over our heads anymore than Jesus did. So I choose to interpret this guidance in a much more literal/narrow sense in which the buildings in which people congregate are not necessary without implying that our faith, or those who guide us in our faith, are not necessary.
Lol - I had the same thought! Yes, of course you are right. That's what I was getting at when I said I get that we aren't essential to stopping the spread of COVID-19. That doesn't mean we aren't essential to peoples' faith journey. I guess I'm looking at the bigger picture. The Bible isn't really about our individual faith journey and going to heaven when we die. That's what 20th century Christianity has been focused on and so many Christian have just accepted it as truth. The Bible is about creating the Kingdom of God on earth in the here and now. This is the main thrust of Jesus teaching from start to finish. The church has gone back and forth, sometimes focusing on this, sometimes focusing on individuals. We are in a cycle where the focus is on individuals. I think if we look around we see the result of that. Christianity is more irrelevant than ever to society. We've been so focused on morality and sexuality and trying to force everyone to live the way we think they should, that we have forgotten our calling is to make the world a better place. If we were better fulfilling our calling to serve, work for justice, and care for the least, last, and lost, perhaps society would view us differently. Perhaps we would be relevant. Perhaps if our buildings were being used for more than just Bible study and worship, they would be considered essential. That's really the chain of thought I was trying to provoke. PT
Thank you for continuing the communication. It's helpful and comforting. "Non-essential" is really a stretch - isn't it? I certainly don't agree. We a require more than physical care, as you know. I think the "scientific" community is just describing services from another point of view. Keep your ego intact! 😂
ReplyDeleteI would love to hear It is Well With My Soul. Stay safe and well.
The ancient Israelites implemented quarantines and social distancing in ancient times, as documented in Numbers. Moses took his guidance from God, something that would benefit our leaders today. Laws the Israelites followed were put in place to protect everyone, which was essential for their survival. We have learned so much since then, that some of us have forgotten that God is the source of all knowledge. Who knows what might happen if the secular world saw church as "essential?"
ReplyDeleteWhen I first heard this I thought "What kind of world is this where liquor stores are essential but church is not." But, and maybe I'm being to generous, the question what is essential to be "open." Our faith does not require a roof over our heads anymore than Jesus did. So I choose to interpret this guidance in a much more literal/narrow sense in which the buildings in which people congregate are not necessary without implying that our faith, or those who guide us in our faith, are not necessary.
ReplyDeleteLol - I had the same thought! Yes, of course you are right. That's what I was getting at when I said I get that we aren't essential to stopping the spread of COVID-19. That doesn't mean we aren't essential to peoples' faith journey. I guess I'm looking at the bigger picture. The Bible isn't really about our individual faith journey and going to heaven when we die. That's what 20th century Christianity has been focused on and so many Christian have just accepted it as truth. The Bible is about creating the Kingdom of God on earth in the here and now. This is the main thrust of Jesus teaching from start to finish. The church has gone back and forth, sometimes focusing on this, sometimes focusing on individuals. We are in a cycle where the focus is on individuals. I think if we look around we see the result of that. Christianity is more irrelevant than ever to society. We've been so focused on morality and sexuality and trying to force everyone to live the way we think they should, that we have forgotten our calling is to make the world a better place. If we were better fulfilling our calling to serve, work for justice, and care for the least, last, and lost, perhaps society would view us differently. Perhaps we would be relevant. Perhaps if our buildings were being used for more than just Bible study and worship, they would be considered essential. That's really the chain of thought I was trying to provoke. PT
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