Don't Waste Your Social Distancing
“How much longer do you think this will go on?” A friend asked me this question yesterday regarding COVID-19 and my answer was, “I think it’s going to be a while.” I am neither a doctor, scientist nor health official, but looking at facts and stats by those who are, I think it’s best we get comfortable with boredom and isolation for quite some time.
For the past decade, we as a society have been sprinting - many of us out of breath, many of us unsure where we are even going – and this sudden halt has us exceptionally confused and anxious. While there are valid reasons to be concerned and confused, this mandatory slowing down is quickly revealing a suppressed angst in our souls that can usually be covered up by office work and entertainment. But what happens when your inbox slows down and you are 4 episodes deep into your Netflix binge and it is only 11am, not pm?
In one of my favorite books, Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote two chapters, back to back, titled “The Day with Others” and “The Day Alone.” In this current season we find ourselves in, we must re-learn (or learn for the first time) the beauty and necessity of solitude and silence. “The person who comes into a fellowship because he is running away from himself is misusing it for the sake of diversion, no matter how spiritual this diversion may appear.” Bonhoeffer continues:
“Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. He will only do harm to himself and to the community. Alone you stood before God when he called you; alone you had to answer that call; alone you had to struggle and pray; and alone you will die and give an account to God. You cannot escape from yourself; for God has singled you out. If you refuse to be alone you are rejecting Christ's call to you, and you can have no part in the community of those who are called…
But the reverse is also true: Let him who is not in community beware of being alone. Into the community you were called, the call was not meant for you alone; in the community of the called you bear your cross, you struggle, you pray. You are not alone, even in death, and on the Last Day you will be only one member of the great congregation of Jesus Christ. If you scorn the fellowship of the brethren, you reject the call of Jesus Christ, and thus your solitude can only be hurtful to you.
The day together will be unfruitful without the day alone, both for the fellowship and for the individual.” (p.76)
Many of us were unprepared for the Coronavirus pandemic, but let us not be unprepared when it comes to an end. Would we take this time right now to learn intimacy and joy in Jesus alone without the other beautiful gifts of physical community and church gatherings. If we are willing to put in the hard work now, the church will come out on the other side flourishing, rather than limping.
A FEW TIPS FROM BONHOEFFER ON NOT WASTING THIS SEASON:
- Start and finish your day with Jesus
“We are silent at the beginning of the day because God should have the first word, and we are silent before going to sleep because the last word also belongs to God.” (p.79)
You may be thinking, “But I have young kids who wake up early…”. I get it; I do, too. I know it can be exhausting, but let us wake before they do, enjoy solitude with Jesus, so we can love them and others well.
2. Meditate on one short passage of Scripture for the day
“In our meditation we ponder the chosen text on the strength of the promise that it has something utterly personal to say to us for this day and for our Christian life, that it is not only God’s Word for the Church, but also God’s Word for us individually.” (p.82)
I have been reading through John in the mornings. Today I was meditating on John 16:33, “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.” What a timely and needed reminder. I encourage you to pick a book of the Bible and slowly work your way through it. Read a chunk of scripture a day and meditate on a verse or 2 that stand out to you for that specific day.
3. Pray and intercede for your church family
"A Christian fellowship lives and exists by the intercession of its members for one another, or it collapses. I can no longer condemn or hate a brother for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me. His face, that hitherto may have been strange and intolerable to me is transformed in intercession into the countenance of a brother for whom Christ died, the face of a forgiven sinner.” p.86
Bring your burdens to Jesus. This season is filled with much loss and hardship due to job layoffs, sickness and uncertainty. Cry out to Jesus with the burdens weighing heavy on your heart - He wants to hear from you. Text someone in the church or a neighbor and ask how you can be praying for them, then actually pray for them. While it may be difficult to love someone up close in this season, we can love people from afar through prayers, texts and FaceTime calls. This will take intentionality but is absolutely worth it.
4. Limit your media intake
"Don't spend more than 15 minutes on social media each day." (p.85)
Okay, Bonhoeffer didn’t actually write that… he died before the color television was invented, but if he were alive today, I am sure he would have said something like that. Yes, do a quick check of the CDC updates on COVID-19, refresh your Instagram a couple of times and watch a show you enjoy, but don’t sit for hours on end at your computer or on your phone scrolling aimlessly. Instead, make some time to FaceTime a friend, an elderly neighbor or a family member you haven’t spoken to in a while, read a book or go for a walk to get some fresh air (away from people, of course).
Though this time we are being given in isolation is not something most of us would have ever chosen, I believe Jesus is going to use it. We have an opportunity to come out of this far more intimately connected to our Father if we press into Him in this season of uncertainty and discomfort. Don’t waste your social distancing – “For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose.” Phil. 2:13