It Ain't the Same!

I appreciate social media and I am so glad we can use it to stay in contact with one another during this time of mandated social distancing. Thank God for the internet and for Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, and all the rest. I have read what the top church leadership experts are saying about how church is changing or will change or must change to be online.

https://pop-culture.net/january-29th-curmudgeons-day

I'm not arguing with that... I'm not even really sure what their point is because I don't hear anyone saying, “No, let's not go online!“ Maybe they are out there... Yes, churches should livestream and, yes, churches need to have a strong online presence and, yes, Carey Nieuwhof, we all know that you can buy your groceries, your clothes, pay all your bills, and watch your choice of entertainment from your phone, tablet, or laptop. Yes, we want to be Netflix, not Blockbuster. Yes, we want to be Amazon, not Sears. (I like Carey Nieuwhof. I'm not hating.)

Now, call me an old soul, an old fogey, or a stick in the mud... You won't be the first or the last, I'm sure.

All that is great and fine, but can we just be intellectually honest with one another:

CHURCH ONLINE IS • NOT • THE • SAME.

Let me say it again for the people in the back:

IT AIN'T THE SAME.

And to try to pretend that it is the same so that we don't feel so bad about it when we aren't together in the same room –– or whatever other reason we may have –– is just deceiving ourselves and will ultimately leave us empty.

Yes, online church is helpful. Yes, it is beneficial. Yes, it is good. But as N. T. Wright recently said, “We humans in general are designed to be social beings. There are a very small number of people who seem to be able to do without social interaction for extended periods of time, but for most of us, that is not the case.“ Online Church is not a substitute for gathering in person. It is not something with which we should become comfortable or to which we should become accustomed.

Tim Elmore and others have said that the human tendency is to lean toward whatever is more convenient. I think Online Church is like fast food: it's quick, it's convenient, it's easy, but a steady diet of it will leave us unhealthy. Good things take an investment of time and energy. Just like going to see a movie in the IMAX theater provides an exceptional experience when seeing a new movie, it costs more money and you have to leave the house, but you also can't just download it on Netflix and get the same value experience.

We need to be around each other in person. We were not created to be isolated. We were created for community. When all this is over, I hope and pray that we haven't settled for a steady diet of “fast food“ church. (Even Chick-Fil-A isn't something you should eat for every meal! [Please don't stone me...])

I hope and pray the opposite –– that we will hold fast to that which is good, that we will have learned the value of being together, that our efforts to have high production quality will not have squandered the very necessary human element of relationship for which God has designed each of us and without which none of us can truly thrive.

Online Church = good for a first impression at reaching the unreached, good for parents with infants who need to stay home, good for the elderly and shut-ins, good for when traveling for work, good for accountants during tax season, good for a lot of exceptional reasons...

But not good for a week-after-week substitution for the real experience of being under the same roof with a gathered people to edify one another and worship God together.

That is all. For now. 😏