Reflections on a solitary year . . . .

After a year of isolation, separation, enforced solitude and an underlying anxiety that has resisted all my prayerful attempts to nurture a calm Spirit-filled equilibrium, what have I learned through this year that has been like no other?

I have after all had more than enough time on my hands to think about my priorities - my relationship with God, my family and the wider world. I have changed in this past year, the world has certainly changed, the church of which I am a part must surely change as it emerges into a new world - but how?

Every day my iPad is bombarded by statistics, graphs, projections, long-term and short-term strategies and sobering news of infections, hospitalisations, and mortality rates; and I remember that Jesus wept over the death of ONE person, Lazarus, whose untimely death represents all that is wrong with this beautiful but broken world, and all that Christ has come to heal. He did not just raise Lazarus from the tomb, he came to defeat the power of death for all of us, and ultimately to restore in each one of us the image of the One who created us.

What image? What does it mean to be made in God’s Image? If, as Scripture tells me, every human being is made in God’s Image - and he is a triune God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - then being made in God’s image means that we are made for community. That is why isolation and separation are so hard, even for us introverts. We were not meant to be alone. We were made to love and care for and look out for one another. It is not good for our mental or spiritual health to isolate ourselves from other people; we are designed to focus on others rather than just on ourselves.

I do think though that it will take time for some of us to adjust to 'rejoining' a world of folk who maybe don't see life as we do! Even when vaccines have minimised the physical risks we may still be tempted to retreat into our own world where we can plan our personal path through life via our one-to-one hotline with God, free from the unsolicited advice of well-meaning friends. The problem with that, as I have learned from bitter experience, is that my listening to God skills are far from infallible and I need advice and counsel, and accountability more often than I care to admit. Following Christ is designed to be done in community.

Love for God and other people is what it means to be made in God's image. Every human being is made by a perfect, joyous, relational God for a perfect joy-filled loving relationship with Him and with our fellow human beings, and though that image was spoilt by our prideful rejection of God, it has not been destroyed. God has never given up on his plan and through his death and resurrection Jesus has made possible the restoration of that perfect image within every human being.

If I take seriously the fact that ALL human beings are made in God’s image it fundamentally changes how I treat every single person with whom I come into contact, how I value every individual I so easily pass judgement on. It compels me to stand up for the rights of every person discriminated against or dismissed by the power brokers and opinion influencers of this world. How am I living up to this challenge? Not too well, if I’m honest. I need to change.

I am also a part of a church worldwide that does not have a great record when it comes to building an inclusive, non-judgmental, loving and caring community, where everybody, without exception, is welcomed and valued.

Is it too much to hope that coming out of lockdown I can be a part of contributing to a new way of being church, of building a new community, which recognises and values the image of God in every human being and lives that reality every day?

Before going into lockdown last year Graham and I had just begun to dip our toes into a new church community, and one of the blessings of this past year has been being part of a Home Group with whom we have kept in regular touch through social media. We have not been able to go through our familiar Sunday habits of meeting up in a building, singing worship songs, drinking coffee and putting on our Sunday smiles, but that has been wonderfully compensated by the authenticity, trust, love and support of this group of beautiful people. It is just this sort of community that flourished in the nascent church of 2000 years ago and led thousands to say “see how they love one another, we want to be a part of a community like this!".

What happened? Would the non-Christian world say that of us now? How did we lose the vision of such a uniquely beautiful community? Why have so many churches become toxic and so many would-be disciples disillusioned with God and his people? I know as I write this that there are many wonderful communities of Christ followers and I have been blessed by experiencing such fellowships, but I also know from experience that we have too often nurtured an ‘exclusive club’ culture where sexism, bullying, and judgemental attitudes go unchallenged in ways that would never be accepted in the non-Christian world.

An enforced stepping back from ‘doing church’ for a year has reinforced in me the conviction that following Christ is all about authentic relationship. “I have called you friends” Jesus said. Not religious rule keepers, not pious do-gooders, friends.

I hope that when we come back to a time when the church can meet together it will be with a fresh understanding of who we are - a community of broken and yet utterly loved people, made in God’s image and saved by His grace. Then we will give each other the freedom Christ gives us - to throw off our religious masks, to weep over the sorrows we have shared, to rejoice over our many blessings, to laugh, to learn, and to question together - and authentically to love one another and serve a hurting world.