RevealedReveal what the Bible says about your life.

Church & Community

There is no church within an hour of me that I could honestly commit to. What am I supposed to do?


Old TestamentEzekiel 11:16

Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.

Ezekiel prophesied to Judeans deported to Babylon, hundreds of miles from the temple, convinced they had been cut off from God's presence along with the building. God's answer through him is that he would himself be a sanctuary for them in the very places they had been scattered to. It was said to people with no possibility whatever of gathering where they believed they were meant to.

New TestamentJohn 4:21-23

Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

Jesus is talking with a Samaritan woman about the long running dispute over which mountain was the right place to worship. He tells her the question is about to stop mattering, because the Father is seeking worshippers rather than locations. It is one of the most freeing things he says to anybody in the gospels, and he says it to a person standing on the wrong side of a geographical argument.


A path forward

  1. Gather whoever you can find, even one or two people, at a set time each week to read scripture and pray together. That is not a substitute for church so much as the beginning of one.

  2. Commit to one imperfect nearby congregation for a season rather than to none at all. A church you have real reservations about will still bury your dead and pray for your children.

  3. Ask a pastor you trust elsewhere for regular contact by phone or video, and travel to gather with a wider church a few times a year. Isolation is the actual danger, and it is worth spending money and hours to avoid.


Closing verse

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

- Matthew 28:20

Coming Soon

Want to ask your own question?

Revealed is building a feature that lets you ask anything and receive a Bible-rooted response drawn from both Testaments. Join the waitlist to be first to know when it launches.