Think back with me. Do you remember when we first learned about COVID in March of 2020? And everything suddenly ground to a halt? The world shut down, but we as the Church opened up!
We opened up wider. We started reaching farther and deeper into the world. We welcomed more souls into God’s kingdom and more people into His family. We re-discovered that the power of God is not limited to what happens between the four walls of a church building.
The mission of the Church is not to put people in seats but to get people into heaven and make disciples. Its mission is to revive the simplicity of our relationship with Jesus and reprioritize our lives around trusting God.
Matthew 28:16–20 says, “But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’”
Like the early disciples, our mission is to worship Jesus and go into the whole world to make disciples. That’s the Great Commission Jesus gave us. Some might be growing tired of hearing me say this, but I don’t care—We’ve been given an opportunity despite COVID. God has given us a gift to reimagine how our lives can be as the Body of Christ on the earth.
Some are celebrating that “things are finally getting back to normal.” There is no back to normal for me. There is no going back to the way things were for you and me. The Spirit of grace is reviving us. We’re not going backward. We are going forward.
We don’t want to go back to the Church we used to be. I don’t want to go back to the pastor I used to be. I don’t even want to go back to the human being I used to be. I want to be a better version of myself to the glory of God, walking in His goodness, grace, and love. In fact, I want all of those—His goodness, grace, and love—working through my life.
Do you hear what I am saying? I want to be—and we’ve got to—be the Church—the Body of Christ.
As His body, God has called us to make an eternal impact by reaching precious people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ all over the world. Proverbs 11:24 in the Message Bible says, “The world of the generous gets larger and larger.” God is a good God, and we can show the world how good and generous He is by acting just like Him—just like Jesus did. John 14:9 says, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” We can show the world the true nature of our loving, generous Father!
The Church consists of flawed, ordinary people like you and me. The God of restoration has extraordinarily touched our lives—He is the Lord Who makes all things new.
The Gospel message is simple, and its proclamation brings revival. I’m asking you to reimagine the post-COVID body of Christ with me. Let’s re-embrace the mission. Instead of just going to Church, let’s BE the Church! Let’s be love because love never fails.
Post-pandemic, I see a global church community that is more compassionate, non-judgmental, and full of mercy and healing power.
I see us as His Body, walking in faith and trusting Him. And I also see a church that God is mobilizing, making an eternal impact by making disciples of all nations.
If you would like to hear more on this life-changing topic, click here for my entire teachings called “As He Is So Are We: 5 Superpowers That are Now Yours” and “The Goodness of God Restores Everything.” These inspiring and foundational series will show you about empathy: how to truly love the way God loves.
