From toilet paper stockpiling to gas hoarding to not wearing a mask when asked — we still haven’t figured out how to live in community. A year and a half into a global pandemic and we still think that each state should set their own guidelines on handling this deadly virus. We live in the independent U.S.A. where we still like to believe that our personal actions do not affect others.
But, for those of us in the church, we should be conflicted.
I, too, frequently buy into this individualistic ideology. I can remember hearing the words “group project” in school and immediately feeling dread and disdain. I have always preferred to work independently, given the choice, believing I can produce a better output when I have full control over the process. But, life never really functions independently — despite how much as we wish it would. Throughout this pandemic, we have been reminded that we are all linked together, whether we desire to believe so or not. Our states are dependent on resource sharing (which was evident during the toilet paper and gas shortages and disbursement of vaccinations). We also depend on resource sharing from other countries through trade and commerce. Early on in the pandemic, many of us who shared living spaces in apartment buildings or with roommates were frighteningly reminded that we even share the air we breathe. If one person in a shared space got COVID-19, it was much more likely that the others in that shared space would contract COVID-19. Personal decisions affected the group whether we acknowledged this or not.
Our American ideology often compels us to believe that we serve a personal Jesus, a personal God, a personal Spirit, but Scripture reads otherwise. Consider Romans 3:22-24: “The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Like it or not, Jesus came to save our community because of communal shortfall — communal sin. In fact, the most faithful of Bible characters themselves – Moses, David, Peter – remind us that none of us are able to remain without sin. And, things often get far worse when we try to leave the community and “go it alone,” so to speak. The gospel itself uses communal language, reminding us that we sin together and receive the gift of grace together.
Until we learn how to truly live in community – to work together – progress will only be partial, because cooperation is nowhere near complete. We have built our country upon the myth of the American dream — that if you individually work hard, you will be able to achieve success on your own. But there are always dependent factors; our success, whether we choose to admit it or not, depends significantly on the job we can get, the family who supports us, the intersection between the needs of society and the talents we can lean on. And that is spinning it positively; it ignores the dependent factors working against some more than others: the built-in racial hierarchies, sexist pay scales and ableist infrastructure. We like to point to our independence when we succeed, but we succeed (or do not succeed) just as much because of our interdependence.
I’ve observed that it is quite difficult for American churches to know how to navigate God’s call in this independence-loving country. I have seen many churches re-work the gospel so it plays better to the ears of those in our independent society. This may be temporarily more convenient and practical, but it completely negates the salvation of Jesus Christ. Jesus came to save a world of sinners. We cannot individually work harder to earn our salvation. But if we truly love God and love others with our actions, Jesus will be with us, and we can do better.
Many are tired of sacrificing, but that doesn’t change the reality that there is still more work to be done during this pandemic. It is harder, more frustrating, slower and more restrictive to do this work together. But churches are called to be a faith community, so we cannot do this work any other way. If we are honoring God on our own, then we are no church at all. And if churches cannot figure out how to live in community, then I’m afraid there may be a real reason to despair. Choosing Jesus means choosing community — choosing to put God first and others second. Let’s not lose that spiritual identity and call. In a country of personal freedom and “I statements,” we are called to live out the communal gospel during a communal pandemic.
