I'm not backing down. It was time to "Zoom from the Zoom" - and it is still time to be "Zooming from the Zoom".
We cannot fulfill Biblical commandments if we as Christians are not meeting with, gathering together with other Christians IN PERSON.
Please hear what I am saying. Do you want to be obeying God? Do you want to be living out His commandments as a believer?
In order to do that, you MUST be gathering IN PERSON with other believers. That means during a pandemic and/or before or after one.
Many Christians got into disobedience during Covid. Instead of listening to Holy Spirit, they listened to the CDC (or the WHO, or their local/state government) and "complied" with directives that were in direct disobedience to God's Word. By the way, that disobedience (not gathering in person with others during Covid) had a devasting effect on the lives of many Christians. I know many who have yet to recover.
I just got back from a time of gathering with other men. At great cost, and inconvenience (the retreat cost money, gas prices were/are outrageous adding to that expense, traffic getting there was horrible, sleeping in bunk beds with a group of others who snored was less than ideal, etc., etc.)
BUT God led us to gather. He gave us a message. He met us as we shared together, prayed together, confessed sin together, worshipped together, ate together, drank coffee together, and heard each other's stories together.
Back in July, I posted about this: LINK
https://joel2generation.blogspot.com/2022/07/it-is-time-to-zoom-from-zoom-what-lord.html
And while I was speaking at the retreat this past weekend, I re-emphasized this very point, reading quite a bit of a quote from John MacArthur about Zoom Church/Online Church NOT being New Testament Christianity. There are many things that he and I don't agree upon, but in this regard, we are in complete agreement!
Let's consider again what the *Apostle Paul teaches in Hebrews 10:24-25
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
As I was preparing for my messages, I discovered something about these verses that only underscores the insistence of God that believers gather together IN PERSON whenever it is possible (an impossibility would be if someone were in solitary confinement in prison). Beyond that, we are without excuse.
What I didn't see before in these verses is that the only way the commandments "stir one another to love" can be fulfilled is by "not neglecting to meet together". The only way the "encouraging one another" happens is when believers GATHER. (in person!)
In case you are still NOT HEARING what is being said, Zoom meetings/Online Church is NOT GATHERING. It is NOT fulfilling the Apostolic commandments. It constitutes disobedience if that is all a believer is doing.
Getting back to Hebrews 10:24-25 one commentator wrote this: "this verse [10:24] focuses on "love"...Love must have a practical outcome...and a tangible expression...The readers [of Paul's Epistle] CANNOT SPUR ONE ANOTHER on to practical expressions of love IF THEY CEASE ACTIVELY COMING TOGETHER IN CORPORATE MEETING for the purpose of mutual encouragement". (J. Wesley Adams)
In short, the commandments cannot, are not being obeyed if believers are not gathering together in person. And yes, I am fully aware of the objection that in the 1st century there was no "virtual" way for Christians to meet nearly 2000 years before modern technology. The Scriptures give us many other ways to assess this objection. I know personally that believers who failed to find ways to gather in person with others did horribly during Covid. The virtual environment did not work for them.
A second objection would be by those who said that they weren't negatively affected by being "virtual Christians" during Covid. Fair enough. Let's say for the sake of argument that they did okay. Those endless Zoom meetings - Zoom church services, Zoom prayer meetings, Zoom accountability groups - may have enabled some to thrive. BUT...what about the other believers that God wanted them to be meeting with IN PERSON - to encourage, to pray with, to cry with, to embrace, to lay hands upon???? They didn't do those things. They, therefore, were not living in faithfulness to God, in obedience to the many "one another" passages. They failed to love others that needed to be loved IN PERSON. God had intended for them to be meeting with other believers and they chose not to do so. They chose to obey man rather than God (i.e. the civil government). And for this, they must repent.
Coming back to my weekend with a group of 70-80 men. I watched men arm in arm worshipping together, I watched men embrace one another, I watched men cry together, I watched men look each other in the eyes as they shared their stories (often painful one).
NONE OF THOSE THINGS could have happened in a virtual environment. None of those things would have been happening if we all had stayed home and Zoomed.
Yes, it was costly. Yes, it was inconvenient. And surely some chose not to come to the Retreat and think they'll just watch the videos/listen to the messages at some other time. Those men made a huge mistake. They missed out on many of the things God did and would have done in their lives had they gathered with us in person.
Another pandemic will surely be in our future - What will you do then? Will you obey God rather than man? What are you doing now? Are you dynamically meeting with other believers to fulfill all the "one anothers"? You think you are doing well? Maybe you are! But what about those other believers that God wants to be using you in their lives IN PERSON today, this week, this month?
I am sorry if you were misled. I realize many Christian leaders are mistakenly thinking that "virtual Christianity" can/does work. They are wrong. And somehow, I know this won't be the last blog post that I do on this topic.
*I believe the Apostle Paul wrote the Book of Hebrews IN Hebrew and what we possess today is a Greek translation of Hebrews which is why the style of Greek differs from the Epistles that he wrote in Greek.
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