Is the church alive or dead?

To say we are in an unprecedented time is an understatement. This is a unique time in history in which the entire world faces the same threat. Not everyone is taking that threat seriously yet though. Which will only make this last longer. Often that happens when we think we are the center of the universe and that reality will bend to our will. But it won’t. Reality doesn’t care what you or I think.

This is a time when we do some self-examination — both for ourselves and our lives as well as the life of the church. This is the time when we grasp the idea that the church is not the building. It is the Body of Christ — a living breathing thing.

I’m reminded of John 2:19 in which Jesus is recorded as saying, “Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’” He wasn’t referring to the Temple in Jerusalem, but rather his body — the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Is the church alive or dead? The buildings are dead right now — no life in them. Were the buildings ever alive though? Hasn’t it always been the people in them that made the building come alive. And we are seeing how alive the church can be right now in the midst of crisis.

We would do well to remember that this is not the first crisis the church has ever faced. Nor will it be the last. The church, the Body of Christ, has survived worse…