If 2020 was a computer I think most of us would want to do a reboot. What a mess, and it's not likely to get much better since it's an election year. My question in the title isn't an easy one to answer because no one knows what the rest of the year will hold, but it's still a question church leaders need to be asking. Let me answer it the way I think I would answer it if I was still the pastor of a church.
I would begin with the mindset that a lot of people are frightened. Between the pandemic, the rioting in the streets, the escalating violence, the businesses being closed forcing people out of work, the continued gridlock in the political world due to our electing children to office, and the news media breathlessly telling us each night how the world is going to hell in a hand-basket, people are frightened.
With this in mind I would want to bring the people messages of encouragement and hope. I would want to remind them that God is still God, and nothing going on in this world is going to change that. The church is in a very unique position right now because it is the only entity that can deliver a message of hope to the people. The media certainly isn't interested in bringing messages of hope. Neither is the political world. In fact, they have no hope to offer. The church does. I have preached many sermons from 1 Peter 1:3 which reads, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." This is not a dead hope, but a living hope that is ours because Jesus Christ rose from the dead!
In that same sermon I also remind them of the words found in Romans 15: 13, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Right now you probably know a lot of people who not only want hope in their lives but also joy and peace. Well...here it is. You should note that we are to overflow with this hope. Why do we need to overflow? So we can splash some of it on those we meet who do not share our hope. People need hope, and the church is the one place that can offer it to them through the person of Jesus Christ.
The second thing I would do is to share the gospel with as many people as possible. Yes, I'm talking about evangelism, something we talk about more than we actually do. When people are in crisis they are more open to hearing the gospel, and many people are in crisis right now. This window of opportunity may not be open very long. Our nation, our world, needs God, and the church is called to bring people to Him. Let's be about the work our Lord gave us.
The third thing I would do is call the church to prayer. Like evangelism, prayer is something many of us talk about more than we do. If there was ever a time the church needs to take 2 Chronicles 7: 14 seriously, it is now. We need prayer warriors who will seek the face of God asking Him to heal our land.
The fourth thing I would do is to help our church understand the challenges the church is going to face in the coming decade and how to effectively minister to those challenges. I've actually written a book about that very topic that I'm trying to get published, but so far I've not found a publisher or an agent interested in it. I firmly believe that ministry in the next ten years will look much different than past ministry has been, and if we try to just keep doing what we've done in the past we will fail to impact our world.
Focusing on those four things would probably be enough for the next six months!
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