How Did The COVID-19 Shutdown Impact You Spiritually?
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 came the mandate to cease all gatherings, including churches. The pandemic has revealed some things about the church. Spiritually, it has separated the girls from the women and the boys from the men.
I see four groups of people in the church:
1. Church Lifers
2. Relationals
3. Supplanters
4. Minimals
Description of the Groups
Relationals are involved with church ministries and have a balanced life, including a dynamic and thriving personal relationship with the Lord that is marked by a disciplined and delightful prayer, Word study, and worship life.
Church Lifers are deeply involved in church life or church ministries that mainly define their faith-walk.
Supplanters replace personal spiritual enrichment activities such as a disciplined prayer, Word study, and worship life with weekly church services.
Minimals attend church intermittently, are marginally involved with church ministries, and do not engage in spiritually enriching activities outside of church.
These questions remain:
How did the COVID-19 lockdown affect these believers?
What does the impact of the lockdown say about where they place church and where they place God in their lives?
Did any members of these groups of churchgoers emerge from the lockdown God-deficient or were they more spiritually connected?
Why would the effect of the lockdown on any believer differ from another believer?
These questions and more are discussed fully in The Covid-19 Test: Church or God? Religion or Relationship? and will be discussed in future blogs.
