“Please Don’t Kill Me With Your Church”

JULY 23, 2020

By Chris Pan, Executive Director

Two months ago, when churches on Oahu were first given the green light to re-open, I read a blog post by Pastor Ralph Moore that really struck me. If you don’t know Pastor Ralph, he started the first Hope Chapel in the 1970’s, which has multiplied, directly or indirectly, into more than 2,000 church plants around the world.

Pastor Ralph’s article was titled: “Please Don’t Kill Me with Your Church.” I think that is such a great title. Pastor Ralph wrote about how he’s old and vulnerable to the virus – those are his words! Not mine! He writes about the dangers posed by church services in particular – a concentrated gathering of people, for a longer duration, who like to sing, talk to each other face-to-face and give hugs. He wrote that if churches don’t do their services right, they’ll put people’s lives in danger.

Putting people’s lives in danger is the last thing we want to do. In fact, I think it’s the opposite of what we want to do. The mission of the church is that people who don’t yet know Jesus, might get to know Him through us. The mission of the church is saving lives. Everyone knows these verses:

16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16-17, NRSV)

There are a lot of smart and talented people serving on staff, and as elders and as volunteers. We’re working on making sure we do church right to accomplish that mission, both online and eventually in-person again. Pastor Dan has reminded us during meetings that the way forward isn’t through our smarts, but by listening for the voice and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. So, we are thoughtfully, and carefully, and deliberately, listening to God’s leading. We are listening to both the Bible and science, medical experts, and your voices too.

We pray the Lord’s Prayer every week during our Sunday services – whether online or in-person. Now more than ever, it’s a time to pray: may God’s kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven. Now more than ever, we pray “Thy Kingdom come.”

Prayer:

Our Father,

Who art in heaven,

Hallowed be Thy name.

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors,

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil,

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever.