By: Shafer Parker, FBB Content Director

I had a conversation with some Christian laypeople a few days ago, and it came out that the churches where they serve are still at, or below, 50 percent of their pre-COVID attendance. In addition, all three reported that some new families are now attending their churches, post-COVID, and that without them the current attendance would be even lower. By the way, the churches in view are separated denominationally and geographically, which means the problem of a permanent loss of church attendance is likely universal.

But here is what I will never forget about that conversation. When I asked if their pastors had offered any public reflections on how they or their churches had handled the shutdown, one person spoke up immediately. “He said he regretted that he ‘lacked the courage to keep our church open.’” It appears he was wishing he’d paid more attention to the Biblical story of how the first-century church reacted when first threatened. “And now, Lord,” those early disciples prayed, “look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness” (Acts 4:29).

The contrast could not be greater. In the first century the church prayed for boldness and “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6). In the 21st century many churches have made a virtue of slavishly obeying pagan, God-hating governments, and the churches have been turned upside down. And now, they appear to be dying. Thus, the need to stand firm for Christ and His gospel. And what might this mean in practical terms? Here is one suggestion. What if Canada’s church leaders developed a new resolve to never again let themselves be frog-marched back into the same isolation they meekly accepted in 2020 and 2021?

“Okay,” I hear some pastors say, “practically speaking, how do we do this? How do we prepare our people to boldly stand with Christ and with us?” I agree that this is a problem, and I do believe that many pastors would be more emboldened to  stand up and lead if they didn’t fear they would end up standing alone. So, what to do?

As is the case for nearly everything, there’s a good Biblical answer, found in the story of King Jehoshaphat (II Chronicles 20). You already know the story, but here is the Coles Notes version. Judah got word that three armies were coming against them. In response to the news, Jehoshaphat called a prayer meeting to which everyone came, including all the men, their wives and “little ones.” After he prayed, the prophet Jahaziel stood up and spoke for God, telling the people not to be afraid. “Do not be dismayed at this great horde,” he said, “for the battle is not yours but God’s” (II Chron. 20:15). The next morning the choir went out ahead of the army and sang, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever” (II Chron. 20:21). And just like that, the three invading armies began to fight one another, and Judah was saved.

This story should raise a question. How on earth do we Canadian church leaders get our people to stand like that? Or to put it another way, how do we plant in them the same courage that characterised the first-century church? I believe the answer is found in Jehoshaphat’s backstory in II Chron. 17, the part we seldom read. First, the king demonstrated that God came first in his personal life (II Chron. 17:3-6). He also worshipped God alone, refusing all involvement with pagan gods and demonstrating moral courage.

But Jehoshaphat did not stop there, and what follows is the key to everything. In his third year he sent a team of Bible scholars to teach God’s word in all the cities of Judah. Everywhere they went they taught the “Law of the Lord” among the people. The result? “The fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, and they made no war against Jehoshaphat” (II Chron. 17:10). The teaching was so effective, and the resulting revival so widespread, that even their traditional enemies, Philistines and Arabs, began to seek peace and make offerings to the king.

Wow! What kind of teaching produces such results? Remember, by the time Jehoshaphat’s teaching team finished, the people were fearless, ready to stand in front of invading nations while armed with nothing but a song. But long before that, this same teaching had persuaded the local pagans of the need to make nice to Judah’s king. One would think that the people of God in this century should be focused on nothing less than discovering where they, too, could find such powerful doctrine.

It isn’t a mystery. Jehoshaphat’s team taught the Mosaic Covenant, explaining the blessings and the curses, and the applications of both. Right smack in the middle of the blessings we read, “The Lord will establish you as a people holy to himself . . . . And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you” (Deut. 28:9-10). In other words, Jehoshaphat’s people believed the promises, lived by them, and immediately began to see the blessings of the Mosaic Covenant poured out in their real-world experience.

But someone will object, “That’s the old covenant,” and I reply, then what does it mean when the writer of Hebrew says that “the covenant [Christ] mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises” (Heb. 8:6). It seems to me that if we have a “better” covenant, containing “better promises,” it ought to follow that teaching our people all the blessings and promises of the new covenant would lead to even better results, including more courage, more praise, and greater victories than anything found in the Old Testament. And of course, that is exactly what Jesus himself is expecting. He is “waiting until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet” (Heb. 10:13), which explains our need to continue to meet and sing His praises, even if government tells us to stop (Heb. 10:25). Think of what we have received, and must proclaim—“a kingdom that cannot be shaken” (Heb. 12:28). So stand, and sing, and let God show Himself powerful on behalf of His people.

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