The covid-19 pandemic forced changes in where we work. Many people now tele-commute to the office from the comfort of their home through platforms like Zoom. There has been a rise of “digital nomads,” people living on the road, working wherever they want. Work has changed in the last two years.
Since work has changed, how has this affected the church? Where is the church for the remote worker? Can you be a remote worker and a professing believer in Jesus Christ?
God calls Christians to identify and covenant with one another, assembling regularly to carry out preaching, ordinances, fellowship, and prayer (Acts 2:42). To put it concisely: God calls Christians to regularly attend a local church in which they are members.
But to be clear, attending and being a member of a local church does not make you a Christian. Attending and being a member of a local church shows that you are a Christian. As Mark Dever has said, “The church is the gospel made visible“. In other words, the local church is the context in which Christianity is lived out.
The church is the gospel made visible. (Mark Dever)
Having said this, even before the pandemic, some people’s occupation kept them on the road, hindering them from gathering in a local church on Sunday. PGA Tour players, for example, compete on Sundays. Being absent from church to compete in golf is necessary because golf is part of their livelihood (as is a doctor, military, or many other occupations). These people are providentially hindered from church because of their occupation.
But what about the remote worker, who has an option of where to work?
If you have an option in your employment, do not take a job or work in a remote location that will keep you from regularly attending a local church. If Beach A has a gospel preaching church five miles down the road, and Beach B does not have a church nearby, and you can choose, choose Beach A to do your remote work so you can attend a local church on Sunday where you are a member.
The changing nature of where we work comes down to where our hearts are at. As much as lies within your power, is your heart to attend a local church on a regular basis where you are a member?
Let us never forget that though Covid has changed the way we do our work, freeing many of us to work wherever we want, God’s call to physically gather in local churches has not changed (Hebrews 10:25).
Pastor Dan
For more on the importance of the local church for the Christian, see the following sermons: [link to each below]