You Can’t Close The Church!

I am really good at worrying—actually, I excel at it.

But, never in my life did I think that I would worry about finding toilet paper. Toilet paper has become a hot commodity. Between my husband and two sons, we have searched in multiple stores in multiple cities trying to find that elusive item. My oldest even stopped in a Dollar General Store in a tiny little town between here and Lubbock and was only able to pick up one last roll of paper towels! 

Toilet paper has not been the only thing that is running low in our house. I have been running low on peace in the midst of all that is going on in the world. When peace is low, my anxiety is high. I can’t get away from what is going on in the world—news on every television station, post on every social media outlet, pictures, and texts, and emails, and….all day every day causing more and more anxiety and less and less peace. 

All of us are impacted by this COVID 19 thing that is seemingly taking over our lives. All that used to be “normal” in our routine is up in the air. Parents are either still trying to actually work outside the home or attempting to work from home with lots of help from their new little coworkers.  Online Learning (aka forced Homeschooling) is happening while laundry piles grow. School lunches are happening at your kitchen table!

Seniors are not experiencing their senior years in High School. College students are facing the end of an era without graduation.  Athletes of all ages are finishing seasons that never started. Restaurants are closing.  Movie theaters are closing.  Beaches and Mountains are closing. Even churches are closing… But you know  what is still wide open? THE CHURCH ITSELF. You. Me. Us. Sisters.  Friends. SkyMoms of SkyKids. Church buildings are closing their doors to protect the spread of this virus.

You can close our buildings but you can’t stop our purpose. So let’s do this, when the fear and anxiety threaten our peace, BE THE CHURCH. Call a friend to check in on them. When you go to the grocery store, pick up something and leave it on your neighbor’s porch. Teach your kids how to write a letter—envelope addressed and all! Facetime someone whether you are wearing makeup or not. 

When I battled a season of depression, someone told me to do something for someone else every day to take the focus off of me.  The same applies in this situation. We may find ourselves serving our own families in ways we never have before. We can be purposeful in our togetherness. What if this “thing” that has turned our world upside down is the thing that transforms us from people who just “go” to church to people who have learned how to BE the Church…no building required.

For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
Romans 12:4-5

~Lisa Hughes Tyson