I believe God's anger is seen in Covid-19 on those gathering physically together in church but not getting the point of the lesson in Babel, where there was only one voice and understanding.
It's not about ignoring the difference between virtual and physical gathering. But this entry is a defense against dismissing virtual gathering as a legit gathering. There are differences in modes of gathering.
Richard Coffeen's differentiating "meeting" and "communicating (i.e. writing letters) on his FB post is not valid. (see his post in comment)
As much as they try to ignore it, for churches in America, I believe that the main crisis and concern for them during the pandemic is the loss of offering $$$.
Coffeen brought up the term "gathering", "to meet", comes from the Hebrew word "synagogue", but it can be virtual as well. There are some comments against Coffeen's post. He fails to distinguish the differences between communicating and meeting the way he wants it. The immature dichotomy of the two terms does not show virtual meet is mere communicating and not gathering.
I do however believe, physical gathering is preferred to virtual meeting, when compared. However, in all the debates in siding one method against the other, I have not heard of anyone truly looks into why a physical gathering where face to face, eye to eye communication, hugging and touching are possible, is preferred to virtual meeting. Or vice versa.
Richard Coffeen's FB post:
Re-paste of his post:
What is the difference between communicating and meeting? If I write you a letter in Jesus' name (yes, an old-fashioned paper letter) , I am communicating with you. Does this sending and receiving of a letter qualify as coming together in Jesus' name? If we talk on the phone in Jesus' name, does that "qualify" or "count" as coming together in Jesus' name? Can I say I "met" with you because we talked on the phone?
The word "virtual" means "not real." We call Zoom a virtual meeting to acknowledge that it is not actually a meeting. Zoom is communication. Does "communicate" equal "meet"? Are these words synonyms? If Zoom qualifies as "meeting together," then so does mail. We are claiming that "When two or three come together in my name" means "When two or three communicate in my name."
Certainly we can communicate remotely. But can we "come together" remotely? Why does it matter? What assumptions are we making?