During this period of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments have enforced orders of “social distancing,” requiring people to stay home and only to interact with others if absolutely necessary, in order to help prevent the spread of the virus. As a result, many businesses and organizations have been required to close, or at least to stop in-person gatherings. This has included churches. In response, many churches have decided to replace church gatherings with the church “meeting” via an online format. For some churches, this has been a new experiment, for others, broadcasting church meetings online has been something they have practiced for a long time. Whatever the case, the practice of “doing church” online raises a number of theological questions.
The Meaning of Church
What does it mean to be part of the Christian church? The most basic meaning of the term “church” (Greek ecclesia) is an assembly. The Christian church is the assembly of God’s covenant people, the community of Jesus’s disciples. To be a Christian, to be a part of the Christian church, does not merely mean to hold to certain religious beliefs and faith; it means to be part of such an assembled gathering of God’s covenant people. It is true that the universal church, the Body of Christ, consists of all disciples of Jesus around the world who are united in Christ, even though they have never met. But this universal church only exists as it is instantiated in visible, concrete particular congregations, or churches. The church exists only where a community of Jesus’s disciples gathers around the preaching of God’s word, the administration of the sacraments, and the practicing of biblical church discipline.
Now, the question is, can a church “meeting” or “gathering” online legitimately be a replacement for a church gathering in person? The New Testament writers (not to mention most Christians throughout church history) of course could not have imagined the communications technology we now have that allows us to “meet” online, so of course they do not directly address this question. So, we will have to do our best to discern how what they do have to say about the church might apply to this issue. When the author of Hebrews says, “Let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another” (Heb 10:25), would he have considered meeting online as a fulfillment of this exhortation?
Corporate Worship
Is there anything fundamentally lost when we do church online rather than gathering in person? I would answer yes, there is. Church is not merely a place for people to come, hear a sermon, and worship as individuals. Church is a place for God’s covenant people to gather and, as a body, as a corporate entity, to praise and worship their Lord and to fellowship together as brothers and sisters in Christ. These corporate and horizontal dimensions of church seem impossible to replicate fully in an online format. This is especially the case if the online church is merely a recorded message that is watched and listened to later. But even if church is done as a live meeting, there is still an embodied corporate dimension of worship that is lost.
The problem with broadcasting a Christian worship service online is deeper than that, though. What do we believe happens when the church gathers for corporate worship? If we really believe what the New Testament has to say, then the church’s corporate worship is not just a time for adherents of the Christian religion to practice their religious rituals. It is not just a time for participants to have religious experiences. It is a time when the Lord Jesus Christ is truly present in our midst, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Now, of course there is a sense in which every Christian always has union with Christ. But, most fundamentally, Jesus is present in the church as a corporate entity, a temple in which God’s presence dwells (Eph 2:19-22). The church’s corporate worship is a sacred, intimate time in which Jesus is truly present with His people and they have communion with Him. Where the church gathers for corporate worship, there Jesus is present. It does not seem that a scattered “gathering” of church members online can ever replicate this.
Another implication of this is that it seems problematic for the church, when it is able to gather, to simply broadcast its worship services out for anyone to see. Doing so cheapens the sacred significance of what happens in the church’s worship. Therefore, I would argue that churches, if they do have their church gatherings streamed in some kind of online format, should restrict access to church members, rather than simply streaming it publicly.
The Sacraments
An even more significant problem with doing church online is how the sacraments, in particular, the Lord’s Supper, can be administered at a distance. The Lord’s Supper, by its very nature, is an embodied, corporate event which Christians enact in physical proximity to one another. Many churches will celebrate the Lord’s Supper in an online format, telling each person tuning in to gather their own elements of bread and wine and partake of them at the same time. This seems questionable. One key significance of the Lord’s Supper is that “Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf” (I Cor 10:17). Each person partaking of their own elements in different locations contradicts this. It substitutes an embodied, corporate event for a number of individual rituals taking place at the same time.
An even more basic problem with doing the Lord’s Supper via a message broadcast over the internet is that it allows for no boundaries regarding who is allowed to participate in the sacrament. In the Lord’s Supper, the church as a corporate entity celebrates the redemption that has been accomplished for it by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is only meaningful if only the redeemed are allowed to participate. Participation in the Lord’s Supper must be restricted to baptized Christians who are seeking to live faithful lives and are in good standing with their church. Doing otherwise prevents any genuine church discipline from being practiced and robs the sacrament of its significance. Inviting people to the Lord’s table by simply broadcasting an invitation online allows for no real boundaries at all, and prevents the church from standing visibly as a disciplined community.
Conclusion
So why bring up these objections to doing church online during a time when churches are not allowed to meet in person? What choice do churches have? Isn’t doing church online better than nothing? Well, yes, doing some kind of church activity online is better than nothing, and it is a blessing that we now have the communication technology that allows us to do that. Many Christians may have little choice but to restrict themselves to online church participation at the present time. However, it is important to carefully reflect upon this issue, because: 1) Many Christians were already engaged in “attending” church online prior to this crisis, and 2) Many Christians may be tempted to continue just doing church online after this crisis is over. To these Christians, I would argue that online church is no substitute for the real thing: an embodied assembly of the church community around Word and sacrament on the Lord’s Day.
So where does that leave us for now? Some Christians, arguing that church is essential and the government cannot take away their religious freedom, have chosen to defy government orders not to assemble. This is to some extent understandable, but it is questionable whether this is the wisest course of action during the current crisis. For those Christians who choose to follow government orders not to assemble at their churches, I would say the following:
A necessary part of being a Christian is regular participation in corporate worship and the Lord’s Supper. However, there are sometimes circumstances in which this is impossible, which are the exceptions that prove the rule. For example, a Christian may be on a long journey or in prison, and thus physically unable to fellowship with other believers. The current period of enforced social distancing could be considered such an exceptional time. For now, the church is unable fully to engage in corporate worship and the sacraments. However, the church cannot be content with this, but must look forward eagerly to the time when it can once again fully engage in these divine realities, engaging in embodied corporate worship and bodily communion with the body and blood of Christ.
Thanks for the warning about making on line church a habit.
i liked your thoughts on this. very insightful!