The first chapter in the first book in the Harry Potter series is called, The Boy Who Lived. If you have read the books or seen the movies, you know that the first chapter sets the stage for the rest of the series. Young Harry Potter, only a baby, didn’t die when he was attacked by an evil wizard known as Voldemort. The rest of the Harry Potter universe involves battle between Harry and Lord Voldemort.
But, only because Harry lived.
If Harry had died, there wouldn’t have been much of a story. J. K. Rowling wouldn’t have made millions of dollars off the story of a bad guy who kills a baby. But when, against all odds, the baby lives, there is a great story to be told.
That’s why I believe there is a great opportunity for the church today. The church lived. There is little reason for churches to have survived COVID, from a strictly secular and materialistic worldview. When churches went virtual in March of 2020, there was concern that reverberated across all of Christendom. I admit that my own faith was not as strong as it should have been. My first reaction was to look at our budget.
But, whether my faith was weak or strong, the concerns about the church were legitimate. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, churches had to change dramatically. Our traditional funding structure was turned on its head. Rather than gathering, which is by definition one of the most important aspects of church, churches remained scattered. Mission projects screeched to a halt. Hospitals weren’t visited. Musicals weren’t sung. Revivals were not preached. Childcare was not provided. Building were shuttered.
And yet, somehow, in the midst of that chaos, the church lived.
The church lived because the church is God’s church. The church lived because Jesus promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against his church. The church lived because Jesus isn’t done with the church.
I’m hopeful because the church lived. I’m hopeful because I know that the church has a story to tell. A story, not of it’s own survival, but of a God who lived. Of a Savior who bled and died to bring the dead to life and to repair a broken world.
There is a story to be told, but it is not primarily the story of the church. The story is one of hope and restoration. And, on the backside of COVID-19 shutdowns, I believe that God’s story of hope, redemption, and restoration will have an open and receptive audience.
The church lived, but the church didn’t live for itself. The church lived for God’s glory and for the good of the world. The church lived because the church is Jesus’s vehicle for the proclamation of the gospel and the salvation of the world.
The church survived. And, since the church lived, it is time for the church to get busy living, preaching, rescuing, and changing the world.
If the church had died, there wouldn’t be much of a story. But the church didn’t die and there is a great story and an even greater Savior. Do you know him?
Photo by Jeremiah Higgins on Unsplash
