In the 1990’s, Pastor Mike Pilavachi of Soul Survivor Church in Watford, England did a brave thing.  He sensed his church had grown too comfortable in worship.  They seemed more interested in what they got from the music and experience than what they would bring to Jesus.

So, he decided they would strip away everything – the order of worship, the band, the sound system.  As worshipers came to church, he would ask them what they brought as their offering of worship to God.  Finally, spontaneous heartfelt worship of God broke through.

Songwriter Matt Redman would soon after pen a song influenced by that experience.  The song, The Heart of Worship, is a standard in many churches 25 years later.  However, it was birthed from a situation in which they were forced to worship differently.

A Biblical Example

Similarly, Jesus had an encounter with two of his friends, Mary and Martha, that reminds us of the same truth. You can read the account from Luke 10:38-42 by clicking here.

Martha worked feverishly to get the home ready and provide food for all the visitors.  She wanted things to be just right.  She was a very good hostess.  Her sister Mary was not much help to her.  In fact, she sat around and listened to the conversation.  Martha was stressed out and angry as she asked Jesus to correct her negligent sister’s ways.

However, Jesus commended Mary and rebuked Martha.  He said that Mary’s desire to listen to and learn from Jesus was the “good portion.”  As for Martha, Luke called her serving a “distraction.”

A Contemporary Application

Let’s bring these two instances to bear on our current forced social distancing situation.  Churches across the country have decided to suspend their live gatherings and move their services online.  Our church has done this as well.  While not live-streamed, we made the pre-recorded sermon available online.

A lot of Christians have criticized the churches who choose not to meet publicly for a while.  But WHAT IF, God wanted to use this situation to strip away our usual way of doing things to get us to focus on Him.

Could it be that we do so much FOR Jesus that we forget to hear FROM Jesus?  Has God stripped away our comforts – not just food and toilet paper, but church as usual – for His purpose?

Could it be that those who insist on “business as usual” are running God’s stop sign?   

“Be still and know that I am God…” (Psalm 46:10). Sometimes we miss God because we are too distracted with our serving. 

Maybe the coronavirus is not a detour but an intentional, seasonal stop to reset us.  Food for thought.