COVID-19 Series: #3—Oh that you would shut the doors!

19 Pastoral Thoughts On COVID-19

“Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand” (Malachi 1:10).

When I saw empty church auditoriums and closed doors across the world on Sunday, this verse came to my mind with its emotionally touching cry. In the days of the prophet Malachi, the priests had developed a laissez faire attitude towards the worship of God. Many worshippers were bringing blind, lame, and sick animals for sacrifice and the priests were accepting them. God challenged them through Malachi and said, “Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favour?” Of course, he would not! God finally brought a foreign nation—the Babylonians—to shut the doors of the temple permanently.

I often tremble about this when I think of how so many churches in this century have turned the worship of God into entertainment and the preaching of God’s word into motivational speaking in order to keep the crowds coming. Many believers come late to church or miss worship services and tithing at any excuse, and church leaders will not even talk about it. So many pastors are openly abusing church funds and female church members and still being considered as untouchable “men of God”. Could God be seeing all this without doing anything about it?

I am wondering if what we have seen during this COVID-19 period is not God showing us what he can do to his church if we do not repent and take his holy worship seriously. I could be wrong but seeing those empty church buildings and closed doors on Sunday gave me a lot of food for thought!

“The dearest idol I have known,

Whatever that idol be,

Help me to tear it from Thy throne

And worship only Thee.”

—William Cowper (1731–1800)