One of the things that has been SUPER hard about COVID-19 is that we’ve had to be socially distant from each other. We can’t hang out with our friends. We can’t even hang out with some of our family members!
There are some people who are so sick and tired of social distancing that they’ve just given up. I’ve seen a lot of people totally ignoring the idea of a bubble or limiting who they have personal contact with. Just the other day when I was driving to the church, I saw a pretty large group of teens all laughing and hanging out together as they walked to school….but then when they arrived in front of the school they all put their masks on. Um…it’s not really going to help if you do that!
A lot of people (teens included) are just tired of having to be apart from the people they care about, so they’ve kind of just given up following those rules….and we’re seeing some crazy spikes in cases in Ottawa….and a lot of those are simply because people aren’t all that concerned with social distancing anymore.
One of the reasons why this is all so hard is that we are PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL BEINGS. God wired us with a need to be close to people! Even right at the start of the Bible God said that it’s NOT GOOD FOR PEOPLE TO BE ALONE (Genesis 2:18).
Social distancing can also can be hard if you’re part of the church! If you’re a Christian (someone who loves and follows Jesus with your life) then you NEED to be a part of Christian community! We call that KIDZONE, or CATALYST YOUTH, or CHURCH. We get together to encourage each other to do the right thing, to learn together from the Bible and to worship God together! It’s something that Christians have been doing for THOUSANDS OF YEARS, and we’re a part of that! But it’s been kind of tough doing that during COVID-19. We just opened up our building so people could attend in-person, but it’s a little bit awkward and weird when we're all at a distance. While we can join the online service, it’s not the same as being together in the same room with people.
Romans 12:4-5 “Each of us has one body with many parts. And the parts do not all have the same purpose. So also we are many persons. But in Christ we are one body. And each part of the body belongs to all the other parts.”
There are a few places in the Bible where it describes the church (groups of Christians meeting together) as a body…meaning that when we’re connected to each other, we help each other, we strengthen each other, and can work together for a common purpose! Here, this passage says that “each part of the body belongs to all the other parts”. That doesn’t mean that we own each other…. But it does mean that WE NEED EACH OTHER! We need to encourage each other, help each other, and pray for each other! It can be hard living life as a Christian. We need all the help and support we can get!
While we all have to do SOCIAL DISTANCING right now, it’s not the same thing as SOCIAL ISOLATION. We don’t have to be alone. At a click of a button we can see each other’s faces and hear each other’s voices! When you can’t actually be together in the same room, this is the next best thing! You might sometimes feel that it doesn’t matter if you join us for CATALYST ONLINE, but I wanted to tell you that’s not true. Just being able to see you and hear from you makes our group better! Just your participation and presence is important! If you were missing your hand or your foot, your body wouldn’t work as well, and our youth group isn’t as good as it could be if we’re missing you!
SOME PRO TIPS ON STAYING TOGETHER DURING COVID-19:
1. DON’T GIVE UP!
Yeah, there are a lot of things you COULD be doing right now, but don’t give up connecting with us on Friday nights! Make it a priority!
Hebrews 10:25 says, “And let us not give up meeting together. Some are in the habit of doing this. Instead, let us encourage one another with words of hope. Let us do this even more as you see Christ’s return approaching.”
Connecting together as the church, as a youth group, is super important. We need the encouragement and support! This verse reminds us not to give up meeting together! Research by mental health experts say that connecting over video chat like ZOOM is GOOD for your mental health and well-being! Video chat can actually ease the stress of social distancing! When we can't meet in person, we can still connect together virtually! Meeting together over video chat as Christians, not only is good for our mental health, but good for our spiritual health! We can learn together, encourage each other, and grow in our faith!
2. BE PRESENT!
Have you ever talked to a friend and they were staring at their device instead of looking at you? One time, my wife took a friend out to dinner, and the whole time, the friend was texting other people on her phone. Do you think that made my wife feel valued? Not at all! She felt that her friend didn’t ACTUALLY care about her because she wasn't present!
When you connect with us online, don't just put us as "background music" while you do other things! Stay engaged in the conversation!
We don’t make it a rule that you have to have your screen on at CATALYST online….but we STRONGLY ENCOURAGE IT, because it’s hard to hang out and connect to others when all you see is a black box with their name on it or instead of hearing their voice, you only see a text message in a chat box. You might still get something out of it if you see OUR faces and hear OUR voices, but if we can’t see you, it ROBS us of the social interaction that we NEED and WANT!
3. INVITE OTHERS!
If you know a friend who maybe has questions about faith stuff, or just someone who might need the social interaction, invite them to join us at CATALYST!
We’ve also really missed seeing some of our regular teens….and while one of the leaders can invite them and encourage them to join, it's not quite the same as if YOU did it!
I was talking to my mom the other day, and she was SUPER happy because someone from her church invited her to join a ZOOM Bible Study. It was the first time she had ever joined a virtual Bible study/small group so she was a little nervous and apprehensive about it, but because a friend invited her, she thought she would give it a try. My mom told me that she was feeling about 0% when she logged in, but after the study was over, she felt 100%! She felt encouraged, and she loved the opportunity to connect with others during this time when we've all had to be physically distant! She said that while it wasn't as good as being together in-person, it was definitely the next best thing!
Some of your friends might need a little extra encouragement to connect. Some of them might feel apprehensive about it. Some of them might be a little sick of screens, but my challenge for you is to invite others to join you for VIRTUAL COMMUNITY at CATALYST ONLINE!
4. LIMIT YOUR SCREENTIME IN OTHER WAYS!
It’s hard when we’re in front of screens all day. There are times you might want to skip online youth because it’s just more screens….AND I TOTALLY GET THAT. But a really good pro tip is to make screentime when you can be more SOCIAL a priority, but then take a break from screentime where you’re just watching videos or scrolling through social media for hours.
If you limit your screentime in other ways, then when it comes time to being a part of CATALYST, facetiming your grandma, or doing school work, you won’t be as burned out on screens! Instead of watching Youtube videos or doomscrolling, take a walk, get some fresh air, or read a book! It'll refresh you for those times when you DO connect with others through a screen.
