No More Walls

The walls in Berlin came a tumbling down in 1989.   Twenty-seven years earlier a barbed wire and concrete wall was built to seperate East and West Berlin.   But that all changed 9 November 1989. That night, ecstatic crowds swarmed the wall, all the while crying out: "Open the gates!" Some crossed freely into West Berlin, while others brought hammers and picks and began to chip away at the wall itself.  Then cranes and bulldozers pulled down section after section.   Soon the wall was gone and Berlin was united for the first time since 1945.  Many people could relate to the message spray-painted on a section of the wall:  "Only today is the war really over."

The walls have come down for most, if not all, of Christian churches throughout the world.   One generation after the walls fell down in Berlin, the walls came a tumbling down in every local church.   The dismantling of these walls began in 2019 when COVID-19 changed the way we do church.  For as long as we can remember we have done church within the walls of our buildings.   Just about everything we did was for the people and ministries that happened within those walls.  The focus was on the inside.   But with the rapid spread of the global pandemic, followed by government restrictions,every single church and every church leader was forced to think about ministry outside of the walls of the church.   Today the focus is entirely on what happens or what needs to happen outside the walls.  There really are no more walls.

Now we might lament the fact that for the foreseeable future we will not be able to gather inside the walls of our buildings.  And we need to lament!   There is something very beneficial and spiritually uplifting about gathering together as God's people.  The Bible clearly reminds us of this truth when we are told:  "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another -- and all the more as you see the day approaching."  (Hebrews 10:25)   Too many Christians have forgotten this truth and have turned weekly worship into an occasional event.   Other activities take higher priority on a Sunday.  Perhaps this isolation from physically gathering together will force nominal church attenders to reevaluate their priorities.   And this will be a good thing.

But it is also a good thing for us as churches and church leaders to reevaluate our focus in life and in ministry.  There are no more walls!  The change of focus from what happens inside to what happens outside the walls of our church buildings will demand a different set of priorities and open up new opportunities for the gospel.  Ministry will need to be intentional.  Church will not just happen.   People will not just show up for a Sunday service or participate in some planned activity.  We need to intentionally reach out to people, get in touch with people, pick up the phone, write that email, create that blog, set up a ZOOM meeting, and the list goes on.  We cannot expect people to come to us; we need to go out to them.   

Some years ago I had a tense talk with a member of the church I served.   He was opposed to my urging that we as Christians needed to go out and reach the lost for Christ.   He reminded me that the doors of the church are always open. If people want to come, they can come.  I reminded him of Jesus' insistence that we need to go!  In Luke 10:3 Jesus just says one word: "GO!" It is a command. That word is repeated in the NT over and over again where Jesus tells us to go - go preach the good news, go heal the sick, go set the captive free.   Go and make disciples of all nations.  The current COVID pandemic has forced us to reprioritze Jesus' command for us to go - to go outside the walls of our churches with the good news of Jesus.  We need to go beyond the walls of our church buildings to reach the lost for Christ.  Yes!  But we now need to go outside the walls of the church to even "be shepherds of God's flock that is under [our] care." (1 Peter 5:2)     Pastors and elders are intentionally calling up their members and checking in on them.   This past Sunday, after watching our 'live' worship service, I joined in on a ZOOM meeting with others from the church we attend.   There were people I met that I never had a serious conversation with before -- but now we did!   With the walls down, people opened up and we experienced the fellowship of God's people (Acts 2:42).   And this can only be a good thing!   We see a renewed emphasis on pastoral care, discipleship, and fellowship.

Not only do we have a different set of priorities,  but there is also a wonderful new opportunity for the gospel.   Since there are no more walls, most if not all of our churches are broadcasting their services online.  The gospel is being preached, the good news of Jesus is being shared, prayers are voiced, and there are no more walls to limit this just to the members of the church!   As churches and church leaders we are learning new skills, we are sharing everything online, and the opportunities are endless to reach the world for Christ.  People don't have to come to us since we are going out to them!   Many who are lost are just one click away from hearing the wonderful message of salvation and finding their way home!  

In another generation may we look back at 2019 as the year when the walls of our churches came down, and the gates of eternity were opened to a multitude of people across the globe, to people fearing death but finding new life in Christ.  And may we never return to the day when church life and ministry is focused only on what happens inside -- but may we live and minister as churches with no more walls.