I have a simple plea for you in this post: Stop waiting to engage in your God-given purpose.
For close to a year now, it has felt like we're all waiting for the situation to resolve. That's been more true for some of us than others, and many of us found a tipping point at some point along our pandemic journey that has led us to reclaim some of the rhythms we used to engage in. But in general, it feels like we are waiting for something. In the early days, we were waiting for shelter-in-place orders to lift. We were waiting for the curve to flatten or decline. In California, we've been waiting for color-coded tiers to count down to greater freedoms. Lately we've been waiting for vaccination distribution and/or herd immunity.
I'm realizing that there's always something to wait on before... what exactly?
And that "what" is really important. This isn't a post about churches reopening or government suppression. I'm saying that we need to stop waiting on the situation to change, but I'm not saying this as a rallying cry for us to "reopen churches" in a way that gets us back to "normal." I'd like to be agnostic about that in this post. What I'm suggesting instead is that we stop waiting to pick up the mission that Jesus has left for us.
Here's what Jesus has actually called us to. He's called us to love God and to love our neighbors (Mark 12:28–31). And he's called us to make disciples (Matt. 28:19). That's the mission for our churches, but we have to remember that a "church" is just a collected group of believers. So that calling is not a mission statement to post on a church website or hang on the wall in a church lobby. It's a vital direction that Jesus calls every one of us to.
So you don't need to wait for your church to resume any corporate activity in order to do the things Jesus called you to do. Stop waiting.
As a pastor, I'm finding it so extremely difficult and frustrating to create spaces and mobilize people at scale. We're all so different in our comfort levels with gathering or interacting with people. Masks or no masks? In-person or virtual? Small group or large group? Indoors or outdoors? When I try to do this with a group of any size, it's really hard to find something everyone is comfortable with. But on an individual level? This is actually pretty easy to do. All you have to do is consider what you're willing to do, and then think of a specific person. What is that person comfortable with? How can you be a blessing to this one person?
So think outside of the corporate, program-driven, church "box." Jesus calls you to love God above all else. Is there anything holding you back from this right now? Jesus calls you to love your neighbor. I refuse to believe that anything is hindering you from this right now. Can you not think of any ways to be a blessing or support to the person living next door? Jesus calls you to make disciples, which amounts to following the words, works, and ways of Jesus yourself and helping other people on that same journey. Are you really being restricted from that?
So stop waiting. Before you click away, take a minute to pray and ask God what you can do this very day to (1) love God, (2) love people, and (3) make disciples. He'll speak to you, I promise. And when he nudges you toward some big or small action in service of one of these three, don't wait. Take a step. It's a difficult time for all of us, which means that this has never mattered more.
Mark Beuving has been serving in pastoral roles for nearly 20 years. After a decade in various teaching and administrative roles at Eternity Bible College, Mark is a pastor at Creekside Church in Rocklin, California. His books include ‘Resonate: Enjoying God’s Gift of Music’ and the New York Times bestseller ‘Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples,’ which he co-authored with Francis Chan.