Guest Post by Barry Lucas, Pastor of First Congregational Church of Allegan.
Recently, Netflix posted its second-quarter earnings, showing that it continues to do well. You might know that this company began by sending movies to their customers in the mail, but according to tech-business analysts, their growing success is because Netflix recognizes that the future is in “Streaming”: sending movies directly over the internet to a customer’s computer or TV. In response to this, a prominent Christian leader used Twitter to remark, “Meanwhile, the Church has very little Web content.”
A Christian magazine to which I subscribe, (actually- and ironically- a “digizine”, since everything comes over the internet!) was prompted to wonder, “Is this because Pastors and church leadership don’t realize the potential of the internet, or are they uncertain about how to harness its power?” They concluded it was the latter, and had several suggestions for improving effective use of the Web to promote a church.
I had an immediate emotional response to this news, and honestly, it came mostly from my own rather cold relationship with modern technology. I am not very comfortable with computers; my familiarity with what they can do is limited to eMail and using it as a glorified typewriter. I also have very little patience to sit in front of it and “surf the web”.
Furthermore, I am increasingly mystified and occasionally irritated, that so much “social networking” is going on, when in fact there is less and less time spent between people in actual face-to-face conversations. There is a small rebellion against this trend going on among some businesses in the Holland and Zeeland area. There are groups of business representatives who get together once a month to eat lunch and (gasp!) talk, exchange business cards, and refer customers. How 19th-century can you get?
Despite my personal disaffection- or lack of interest, really- in modern technology, I recognize that many other people use the internet for their news, shopping, research and generally keeping up with others in their lives. I think it is because so many do, and increasingly more do every year, that churches and Christian groups think it is imperative that we get on board, and “take advantage of every opportunity”, as Ephesians 5:16 tells us. Of course there should be good Christian content available on the internet, but I believe that Christians should remember, and the content should stress, that an online experience is only a part- and a small one- of what an actual (as opposed to virtual) church experience should be.
That said, part of my negative reaction to the Netflix news was founded in more than just my personal flat-earth mindset. It also had to do with the mistakes that churches have made in the past when they have unquestioningly thought that “what works for business must work for us”. A church is not a business, and the Church is not a business. Businesses have very different outcomes in mind, and therefore their means may not be compatible with what churches should be doing.
Let’s go back to Netflix for an example: Netflix wants to maximize its profits by making it as easy as possible for someone to get their product without inconveniencing themselves in the least. Their success in pursuing this aim has pretty much dismantled the video store model. Why hassle with the rental place when you can have it brought to your mailbox? No bothersome human interactions there, unless you happen to bump into the mailman. What is the only thing that kept the video store on life support? Our impatience: if I have to wait 24 hours or more to get the movie I want, I may just run over to the rental place. Netflix then brought out direct-to-computer movies, which meant that a customer could get whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted it. This was the final nail in the coffin for the brick-and-mortar store, and Movie Gallery, the last big national chain, is the latest casualty.
Now, that’s business- it’s competitive, it’s dog-eat-dog, and while we may think it is sad to see a business like Blockbuster go under, it is the same thing that happened to stables and livery companies with the wide adoption of the automobile.
So, a key difference between business and the church is that they ultimately want different things: businesses want our money, and they will try to offer us a product or service priced, packaged and delivered in such a way that we will part with our money. That means, as Netflix recognized, that it can play to our laziness, our impatience, our selfishness and our personal convenience and that dovetails neatly with their making money.
Is any part of that philosophy consistent with the Church? Isn’t what God is asking people to do less convenient, less selfish, less lazy and less insulated than they would otherwise tend to be?
I saw a cartoon once depicting the “Lite Church”. Its sign in front advertised things like, “Home of the 7% tithe”, “Only 8 of 10 Commandments- your choice”, etc. It reflected the temptation every church faces to play the same game other businesses and services do, all in the name of attracting people and filling pews.
We should offer compelling reasons to get out of the house and be together, worship together, and work together, but those compelling reasons should not be targeted at our selfish inclinations.
Churches should try, within reason, to make it as easy as possible for people to access what they offer- handicap accessibility, parking, a safe nursery, listening assistance, etc. are areas where we have realized in recent years we have to pay more attention. Churches should try to avoid being dull, boring and routine, but they cannot make entertainment their priority. They should try to have engaging programs and curricula for the children, but they should never become Chuck E. Cheese. They should try to be “seeker friendly”, but they must not neglect the responsibility to make disciples. Neither should those who attend church expect that a church’s aims and methods are the same as those places that just want their money. If we are too quick to jump on every business, culture, or technological trend that comes along, we will sometimes be utilizing models and techniques that actually work against our very reason for being!
Netflix might honestly make the attractive promise that their customers can fully enjoy the benefits of their services with a minimum of messy human interaction. The Church must honestly promise that the full benefits of discipleship can only be realized with human interaction- joyful, supportive, inconvenient and sometimes messy. The Christian must ask him or herself, “Am I a customer, or a disciple? Are my expectations of the church those of a consumer, or a servant?”
It is in God’s plan and wisdom that we become more like Jesus in the company of others becoming more like Jesus. There’s no money in that- but there is eternal profit.