Should The Old Refrain From Church Gathering?

Now, we’ve heard enough about the old being very vulnerable to the Coronavirus infection. Current research tells us that if you’re in your 70s and got infected by the virus, chances that you will succumb to the infection is 5%. And if you’re in your 80s, that will be 10%. Now, 5% or 10%, though it doesn’t sound a lot, but it’s enough to scare the wits out of everyone, whether the Elderly, or the children of the Elderly. And as such information gets widespread, Elderly people see themselves as the vulnerable group, so ever since physical church gathering has been restricted, getting the Elderly people back to church has been an uphill task. In fact for some, it has been a controversial issue. Some family members get  very concerned about their aged parents or grandparents visiting church again, especially if they have to take public transport. So getting them to congregate seems to be a foolish thing to do. So church eventually felt that the responsible thing to do is to have Elderly stayed at home to watch live services.

Now, at the start of the COVID-19, I thought so too. It seems like that is the wise and responsible thing to do. After all, old people immune system isn’t very strong. And if they have any underlying condition, they may not survive an infection. But when we are 8 months into the pandemic, with restrictions of large group gathering very much in place, I began to rethink about what is the way forward for old people. Should they continually be discouraged from coming to church? Or should churches with older congregation continue to shut down meetings? I mean with that kind of fear sentiments, is there any hope for them? In fact, I know of a few aged fervent Christians who love to be back in church, but the church leadership is apprehensive because of the whole COVID situation. In fact, some of them have old friends whom they wish to bring to church, but because of the practical constraint, they were reluctant.

Now my parents have been attending church since it reopened. Same for some Elderly in my church. But when the fears of the pandemic are amplified, with old people being singled out as the vulnerable group, many of them are restrained from doing so. So I personally felt that calls for church leadership. Now, sometimes when we are bombarded by information which only favors one side of the argument, we may not be able to see the will of God in totality.

Just a few days ago, I came across a verse which I like to share with all of you. <Proverbs 14:12>: There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

Now sometimes we may be too engrossed with what we know, but we didn’t think about its underlying repercussion. Now during the circuit breaker, or lock down, we saw that people who are most affected are the Elderly in fact. Some of them missed their grandchildren, some of them live alone, they grapple with loneliness, and not to mention that some of them have poor health condition. In fact, I saw that the lock down was the hardest for this group of people, both mentally and physically. And when the church reopened, they were deemed as the most vulnerable group and was greatly discouraged from gathering. Some don’t even have a church to go back to as many churches remain closed. Now think about this, although we are concerned about their physical health, but how about their spiritual health? And because of their physical vulnerabilities, one of the most urgent need for the Church Elderly ministry is to bring old people to the saving grace of our Lord Jesus if these people aren’t believers yet. In fact, many of our middle-aged congregants wish to bring their unbelieving old parents to church but because of the many constraints, they are prevented from doing so.

Now, let’s think about this, if the COVID-19 situation is going to be prolonged for another year, what will happened to the souls of old people within these 1-2 years? Some of the old people could even passed away due to some illnesses or natural causes. Some might become very reluctant to go back to church. Some might even deteriorate mentally and spiral down emotionally. Now, a lot of things could happen to old people in a span of a few years, even months, I mean if we’re living with an Elderly or have been taking care of one, you’ll know.

So with all these practical considerations, if we discourage the old from going back to church for physical gathering, or if we do not provide a platform for them to worship physically, we might risk going the way that seems right to men, but in the end it leads to death. A lot of old folks may miss the chance to secure their faith in the Salvation of Christ in their twilight years. Now, we may be seen to have protect their physical health, but in doing so, we might also deprive them the chance to hear the gospel, and thus the chance of true conversion in their lives. I mean not to mention many old people in the church are not yet believers, they may be merely just seekers of religion, or they could just follow their children to church without having went through a real conversion yet. Or without encouragement from a physical community, there may be a lot of aged Christians who live defeated Christian lives toward the end of their life. I’m sure as a Christian, we don’t want to see that happening to our loved ones.

Now honestly, I am for the old people to go back to church. Having old people back to church to worship must be seen as essential. In fact, thank God we’ve just got good news from the government that churches are given the liberty to conduct services with 100 attendees. Now my brethren, I pray we can start getting our old folks back to church. Invite your parents, or the Elderly people who are receptive to the gospel.

Now, on the side of being watchful, just have the Elderly wear a mask, practice good hygiene. Other than that, put in lots of prayer for them. Encourage them with Word of God, excite them with joy of gathering, for the Bible says: A cheerful heart is good medicine <Pro 17:22>.

Be assured that when they gather in the name of the Lord in good faith, their health will be sustained, and they will defy the odds in this pandemic. The church needs such faith and testimonies.