David Diga Hernandez - Healing from Church Hurt and Gathering Again

I’ve been asking the Holy Spirit what He is saying in this season and what one of the things He wants to communicate to His church. I can tell you I heard the Holy Spirit speak very clearly: it’s time to gather again. There’s a very dangerous trend, and I hope you’re not caught up in it—a very, very dangerous trend that has really been catching on in many parts of the church. This idea that we don’t need to gather, this idea that we can have a superficial connection with the body of Christ and expect to thrive spiritually. I understand that Christ is our source; I know that we all have the Holy Spirit. First John 2:27 tells us that we all have the anointing. But the truth of the matter is this: God always intended for His church to gather together. That’s the design; that’s how He created His church; that’s what He intended for His church—that we gather together. You cannot replace the gathering of the saints with an online connection. Now, this is coming from someone who has an online ministry. If I didn’t love you, if I didn’t care about you, if I just wanted to be self-serving, I would say, «You know what? Yeah, you don’t need your pastor. You don’t need those people. You’re probably more anointed. You probably know better. They’re probably all religious and compromised. They’re probably all dry spiritually.» And I would tell you lies like you’re the only one who gets it; you’re the only one in the group who truly is anointed; you’re the only one who actually wants the deeper things of God. And I would tell you those lies to flatter you so that I could benefit from it. Look, as I said, I’m in online ministry and we are seeing a fruitful season, a very fruitful season. So this isn’t coming from an old wineskin who’s complaining about change and who doesn’t like the way things are going. I believe in online ministry; I believe this new wave of communication is powerful, useful, and a great tool. But it is by no means a replacement for gathering with one another. You can’t replace that personal touch. Only in gathering can we find true accountability; only in gathering can we find true relationship. You see, if we just connect online, then we get to know one another’s personas. But if we truly gather in life, then we get to truly know each other. People can’t hold you accountable if all they know is that projection that you created online. People can’t truly connect with you if you’re at a distance. The physical gathering together of the saints is needed. Let me show you something in Scripture; this is found in Hebrews chapter 10. I’m going to read verse number 25: «And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of His return is drawing near.» That is Scripture. How are we supposed to lay hands on those who are sick if we’re not gathering in person? How are we supposed to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and house the homeless if we’re not gathering together? It’s the gathering of the saints that makes the difference. Now, we’ve all heard the clever-sounding excuses, like, «Well, I am the body of Christ.» Well, no, you’re not. You are not the body until you gather. It’s only in our gathering that we become the body. It’s only in our gathering that we experience the union that God intended for us to experience. You need a pastor; you need fellow believers; you need people who can connect with you, know you, laugh with you, weep with you, celebrate with you, fellowship with you, and eat with you. You need personal connection; that’s how God intended it to be. Now, when this pandemic first started to affect the church as a whole, what began to happen is people started to isolate themselves. Now, isolation is the breeding ground for fear, strange doctrine, and bitterness. As people start to isolate, they begin to get bitter; they start to get weird; they become confused; they become fearful and cold—that’s just a reality, even prideful. In fact, the enemy can use flattery to make you isolate; he does that often. People will tell you things, as I mentioned earlier, like you’re the anointed remnant and you’re the only one who gets it, and we kind of get this idea in our heads: «Yeah, the people in my church are all cold; they don’t get it; they don’t understand it like I do.» My pastor is not as powerful as this guy or this girl online; my pastor doesn’t do it like the online people. All these things sound like good reasons to disconnect, but the truth of the matter is that those people online, those people on television, those people on the radio are most likely not going to share a meal with you. If you go to the hospital, they’re most likely not going to be able to come and visit you if you experience a family tragedy; they’re most likely not going to call you. So, we have to get this idea out of our minds that the more spiritual we become, the more isolated we become from the body of Christ. Now, I understand sanctification; I understand being set apart. But being set apart and sanctified is not the same as being isolated, and we can’t confuse the two. We have to stop pretending, or acting like, fellowship with other believers is somehow a contamination to our great spirituality. I mean, if we are really supposed to isolate from those…