It is easy for a group of believers to experience stability for so long that their eyes begin to look more to the body’s health and benefits than their Savior. When the manifestation of stress begins to show in the congregation, we begin to realize, even as a church, we all still have a chronic illness that makes us weak. Though we have been forgiven and declared righteous in Christ, every single one of us is still dealing with indwelling sin. We are not as strong as we think we are, even as a group.

Just as stress affects our physical bodies, it can also affect our church body. I am not a strong man. As much as a want to be, and as much as I try to let the semblance of strength linger around me, when the stresses of life start applying pressure, my body succumbs to its presence. I live with a chronic illness, and the stress and strains of life wear on my body much more than they used to. When I need my physical health the most, that is the minute it begins to let me down. As we all know, stress is not merely an emotional or spiritual reality. It manifests itself in a multitude of tangible ways, and each person experiences it differently.

The body of the local church is not much different. When conflicts, financial pressures, or any other external force begins to weigh heavily on the church, there will be symptoms that arise among its members. The restrictions of COVID-19 are an excellent example of this. Regardless of what you think the right path forward is, there are people in your congregation who disagree and are as distressed about the situation as you are for different reasons.

Typically, in difficult times, we would go to our church family to find refuge when we are heavy-hearted, but what we are facing right now is bigger than any one of us. We are all feeling its weight in different ways. When we need our church family the most, we might find that it too is manifesting the stress we came to forget.

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