Relationships take time…
We live in a digital age which sees 17.9 million smart phones in Australia that has a population of 25,788,215 people in 2021.
We are more connected than ever, and the digital age has encompassed the church as well.
We have live streaming of services, digital sound and screens a plenty in most churches.
But, with all this supposed “connectivity” there has been a blow back in the local church and the closeness of the individuals and families that attend. It is so much easier to watch a service from home after a busy day at work or running a home.
It has made it easier and more preferred for many to slide into church on the Sunday morning service and really not have to interact with too many people at all and then ‘escape’ to home again. Very little “one another’s ” can be carried out in such a short time.
We have a problem today because of this – the church family has taken on the image of the digital nuclear family in many ways.
No longer sharing meals at a common table, children escaping to their now ‘private’ bedrooms with their own television, their own computer creating an ever-increasing isolationist existence even amongst large families.
The family and the church does not function or grow as God intended it when we live in accordance with such a digital philosophy.
One recent survey published the following figures in time spent in actual real interaction between parents and their children – — The concept of a close-knit family is quickly becoming an antiquated notion. A recent survey of 1,000 British parents found that the average parent spends a mere five hours per week communicating face-to-face with their children.
More than half of surveyed moms and dads with children under the age of 18 said they feel “distant” from their kids. In all, 43% blamed their measly family time on their kids spending too much time in front of the television, with another 51% saying their kids spend too much time in their bedrooms. Another 44% said their familial disconnect is a result of their kids logging inordinate amounts of time on their phones during traditional “family time” in the evening.
In the birth of the early church in the Book of Acts, we are given some beautiful verses that detail the very personal interaction of the church and explains why power and encouragement were ever present to those who had received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.
Acts 2: 42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper, and to prayer.
43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity— 47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.
The Sunday evening and Wednesday prayer services provide a greater opportunity for fellowship, praying one for another, encouraging and getting to know one another. It is in these services that I observe a greater intimacy being developed by the brothers and sisters gathered, one with another.
Both services provide much more time for the sick to seek and call upon the elders to anoint them with oil and pray the prayer of faith. As we gather in corporate prayer, individuals have both the time and the platform to share from their hearts their urgent prayer needs which allows true intercessory prayer to avail.
In addition, God softens our hearts to actively become aware of the struggles, battles and needs of the church that the digital age just cannot and does not reveal.
In the Book of Ephesians, Paul writes – 11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
In both the Sunday night and Wednesday evening services, the church has a greater opportunity and time to for the ministry of the body of Christ to really “connect” with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
If the church gets too caught up in the pull of the digital world, the body of Christ and the family itself will continual to splinter and become more isolated one from another and NOT fulfill the new commandment that Jesus gave – to love one another as He has loved us, so powerful, so real, so genuinely, that the world will know we are true followers of Jesus Christ.
2021 can be a year of greater isolation in your home and in Christ’s church or you can go against the flow, take more time, to be about the Lord’s business!