Lockdown Day 19: VIRTUAL PILLARS OF TRUTH
~ WOW ~ If you were wondering if anything good can come out of this pandemic – think again! The ironic blessing of “social distancing” is that it has resulted in “virtual communities” and brought people together on platforms previously ignored by the Church. Virtual Churches are now connecting people that were previously disconnected. On Sunday 12 April the BBC reported that a virtual congregation set up during the coronavirus lockdown has caused an Edinburgh church’s numbers to be eight times their normal size. St Paul’s and St George’s Church in York Place has been reaching more than 8,000 people during each online service. The Scottish Episcopal Church, which has a predominantly young congregation of about 1,000, normally sees between 500 and 600 people at Sunday services. However, on Sunday 22 March, its virtual service was watched live 4,300 times giving a reach of more than 8,000.
Another wonderful phenomenon is how virtual choirs are being established across the globe. It seems like the knowledge of a common vulnerability has united the world-wide body of Christ across denominations. How amazing that the Coronavirus forced the Church to innovate new ways of celebrating togetherness by being apart.
In 1 Timothy 3:15, Paul describes the four great functions of the PEOPLE of God to a young Timothy: “… so that (he) may know how to behave (himself) in the household of God, which is the assembly of the living God and the pillar and buttress of the truth”.
The one beautiful description Paul uses is that the Church is the “pillar of truth”. This picture was probably better understood by the people of Ephesus than modern-day theologians. In Ephesus (where Timothy was living at the time when Paul wrote to him), the word “pillar” had a significant meaning. The greatest glory of Ephesus was the temple of Dianaor Artemis (Acts 19:28) – one of the seven wonders of the world – and one of its features was its 127 pillars. Each pillar was a gift from a king, and they were made from marble, with some studded with jewels and covered with gold. The people of Ephesus knew well how beautiful a pillar could be, so they would have known what Paul was meaning – that “pillar” in this context was not so much a support as it was a display.
The idea here is that the people of God, as they meet together on new levels and platforms of fellowship, will hold up the truth in such a way that all men may see it.