Butts in seats. The Lord may require you to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with him, but the church requires your butt in a seat. Some of my time is spent inviting people, likely via text, to participate in something that requires them to show up. In our world today, that is unique. Most of what the world asks of us is to like, swipe, or view. The best organizations have figured out how to avoid the expectation of getting people to actually show up. The church isn’t amongst these. Well, I suppose some churches have taken on the task that our culture has put before us. Some churches have chosen to compete with the trends of our time. God bless their efforts.
This dynamic isn’t new. The church has always had to take an inventory of the tides and figure out how they will chose to navigate the waters. Paul had to address meat sacrificed to idols. The Reformers had to figure out the separation of church and state. We have our own issues to address. Do we try to get people to show up or do we avoid the ask all together?
Someone told me the church can receive, reject, or redeem what culture has to offer. I think there are a lot of benefits to receiving the cultural trend of ministering to people with technology; phones, video games, etc. In fact, I think some people who have social anxieties or particular diagnoses benefit from ministers who have been creative enough to incarnate virtual spaces. I think others have simply rejected the cultural trends. I understand the benefit of avoiding competition with devices that welcome our dwindling attention spans by the second. Some have chosen to attempt the route of redemption. All of the responses have the potential to be faithful for any given community in any given place.
However we choose to engage culture, we must remember that the Christian faith requires all of us, individually and communally. The communion table welcomes all of Jesus. Paul names every christian as a part of the body. Our butts matter, so does Jesus’ for that matter. How have you shown up in your faith lately? If you are a person of faith, how do you know right now?
Blessings,
Josh