I still remember the date. It was January 24 of 2020, and my family was enjoying a trip in Langkawi, Malaysia. I got a call from the elders in Shanghai saying there’s a serious disease spreading from Wuhan, China, and the government has encouraged people to stop gathering. They didn’t know what to do since we have never canceled our Sunday service before—even during severe persecution.
I’m thankful both to the internet (which helped me collect a lot of useful information that people in China may not even know) and to video conferencing technology. We hosted an online meeting and discussed several options, reaching a consensus: cancel the January 26 service, using an online worship and sermon as a supplement.
This was the first time we as a church canceled the Sunday service, and also, it was our first online service.
In the past two years, I think we as a church and we as elders learned three lessons that we wouldn’t have thought through without the pandemic.
1. Is “virtual church” a church?
The answer is no. We may have to switch some gatherings to online in order to avoid putting other people into danger and to love our neighbors, but “online church” is never a permanent option. There are biblical reasons: the word “church” (ekklesia) means “gathering,” physically in a space. Removing the “being together in a physical space” nature of the church is removing church itself.
There are also practical reasons. Without meeting together, we can’t obey the biblical command of “teaching and admonishing one another” (Col. 3:16). There’s no difference between attending an online church service and watching a “spiritual movie.”
2. Rethink the church-government dynamic.
We know our government does not like us (house churches), and we are always under persecution. We know that. Thus most church leaders would think of canceling services because of a government order as a kind of surrender and betrayal of house church tradition.
Discussing whether we should cancel the service or restore the service is a repeated theme in our elders’ meetings. We had to admit that keeping social distancing and canceling gatherings are ways to protect life—both our life and our neighbor’s life. When we submit to these orders, we are submitting to an earthly authority established by God for the purpose of our earthly benefits.
The deacons thus set up a rule that we would follow the administrative orders given to other places which involve people gathering, such as theaters, schools, and conferences. (Since house churches are not legal, the government issued no guidance for us.) We learned to appreciate the good side of government as a common grace—even when they are still persecuting us.
We learned to appreciate the good side of government as a common grace—even when they are still persecuting us.
3. Redeem the time.
The pandemic, the cancellation of international trips, the US-China tension, and the Zero-COVID policy all reminded us that our peace in past 30 years (after the Sino-Vietnamese war) is a gift. It might be the longest peaceful period in Chinese history. Paul instructed that “a peaceful and a quiet life” is “godly and dignified in every way.” (1 Tim 2:2). The pandemic and its consequences encourage us to redeem our time to live a godly life for God and for the watching world.
During COVID, we planted a new church on the west side of the city with a fifth of our church members. We will kick off a second church plant on another side of the city with a third of our church members this week. Though we had disagreements, fears, and worries at the beginning, the church has grown.
Some members drifted away during the pandemic but later returned. Some members learned how important it is to love and edify each other whenever we have the chance to meet. Some members were strengthened and felt loved by the hospitality among members during the pandemic. COVID, just like other bad things, can be good tools of the Lord for his children’s eternal benefits.
The Gospel Coalition