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Written by Mark Madavan
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It was a real dilemma – and I was glad it was. The whole country ground to a halt because of the snow and ice.
The news channels swelled with special reports from around the country making you wonder what they spoke of when the weather was normal! Thousands of schools closed, every authority found themselves being criticised because roads were not clear – someone in their frustration even threw a brick at one of the gritting lorries! Ridiculous on loads of levels. True our country does not do well with snow, but to be honest I’m glad they don’t have millions invested in snow ploughs and mountains of grit just in case the weather goes weird – imagine the criticism they’d get if they had loads of lorries sat doing nothing for 360 days of the year and our Council bills plumped accordingly for the privilege. Although if you were one of the unfortunates who were trapped in the snow you probably wish councils had invested in heat blowing snow evaporating super-machines to personally be assigned to you!
But back to my dilemma. It was Thursday morning, schools had been closed for two days already, minor roads remained majorly iced, car parks wrapped in a good blanket of icy snow and forecasters were saying it was going to get worse. The dilemma was what should we do about Sunday? Anything up to 350 people including over 40 volunteers stewarding, working with children, musicians, PA, PowerPoint operators, would need to slip and slide their way to church to make it happen. All the authorities we spoke to advised people should only make essential trips - surely church was essential? Local authorities, insurance companies and police were not so convinced.
If we decided that we were going to continue no matter what and the forecasters were right, Sunday could prove tricky, even dangerous. However if we followed authorities advice and cancelled Sunday services but the forecasters were wrong – the sun shone, ice melted and birds tweeter ‘Shine Jesus Shine ‘ from the trees - we’d look like a right bunch of lightweights!
We decided to listen to the advice give. Phone calls were made, e-mails sent and on the day…no significant new snow fell, however the church’s end of Hunts Pond Road remained icy white, the car park covered in a solid blanket of solidified snow and the people dispatched to inform any people who turned up on the day slipped and shivered outside the church thinking “We made the right decision!” Meanwhile, many church members met in local houses and had fellowship together, others had meals with friends and others were relieved not to have to venture forth!
The dilemma I was wrestling with was not simply whether or not to cancel services due to exceptional weather conditions. It was ‘how important are Sunday services’? I passionately believe they are very important, an opportunity for God’s people to meet together to worship, pray, learn, be inspired, re-connect and grow, but more than that to be who God calls us to be - a living community of faith, hope and love.
It’s so easy to adopt an individualistic view of what it means to be a Christian. We say it’s a personal relationship with God, which it is, but then can fall into the misunderstanding that attending corporate gatherings and small groups are simply optional extras, things that exist for us to draw from in order to enhance or supplement our personal relationship with God. This is often revealed when comments are made like “the meeting didn’t do anything for me”, "I prefer it when so-in-so is leading/preaching", etc. An individualistic approach can often end up with a ‘what’s in it for me’ approach. As a result a ‘pick and mix’ view of church community prevails: only attending what suits, or attracts, serving when convenient or sounds interesting, giving from our surplus as opposed to giving first from our core.
The biblical picture of being a Jesus follower is very different. Together is where the body of Christ is seen, together is where the heart of God is heard, together is where the next step is discerned, together is where we discover the deeper truths of what it means to be the people of God. By ourselves we only see glimpses, together is where we see the real thing.
It is true that the church is not a building or a service, but the people. However the church is not the individual people but the people gathered. Gathering reveals and releases the glory of church. Cancelling Sunday services was a dilemma because I believe that meeting together is not an expendable optional extra, an event that is easily cancellable or miss-able if something better or difficult comes up. Meeting together is not an optional add on, but the only place we truly become the body of Christ.
Hebrews 10: 23-25 “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
God designed the church community in such a way that it’s when we are together that we discover more of God, together we grow in our Christlikeness, together we discern God’s will, together we demonstrate to the world that God is love, together faith, hope and love is found. Let’s commit again to be a ‘together’ people.
Mark Madavan
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