As our society slowly but surely moves to re-open schools, restaurants, sporting events and other forms of communal life, I have a fear and a hope. That people will not miss gathering together as a church family. That people will see more clearly their need for true Christian community. In all honesty, both my hope and my fear will probably be realized. Some people will walk away from church community opting for a form of church that is more like Netflix than the New Testament … or abandoning church all together. Others will awaken to their need for spiritual brothers and sisters that live—in part—to be there for “one another” … after all, there are 59 “one another” instructions in Scripture. Undoubtedly, God has used this pandemic to cause us to re-think what it means to be the church. Yet God still expects us to “love another as [He] has loved us” (John 15:12). He still cautions us against “staying away from our worship meetings” (Hebrews 10:25a). He still asks us to “carry one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2). God did not send us a text message; He sent His Son. His Son, Jesus, came as a physical person and died to create a people called “the church” (Acts 20:28). The circumstances in which we find ourselves have not changed God’s purposes for His people in His church. COVID-19 has not changed the fact that we were created for community and quite frankly, we need one another—often more than we may realize. Jesus’ people are supposed to “one another” one another in a way that makes our burdens lighter, brings more blessings into our lives, accelerates our walk with God, and demonstrates the amazing love of God (John 13:35). So here is the question we need to be asking: How? I know for many of us this is a challenging question but one we must ask for the sake of our spiritual health, the vitality of our own local churches, and the witness of King Jesus to the world. So let’s apply the “How Question” to Rock Bridge, how we will “one another” one another moving forward? United. Connected. Together.We move forward with one another!
About Matt Evans
Matt Evans is the Founding and Lead Pastor of Rock Bridge Community Church in Dalton, Georgia. Matt and his wife, Beth, grew up in the Dalton area and saw the need for a church that would reach the lost, broken, de-churched, and spiritually wounded.