The Real Deal

I had the privilege of spending some good quality time this weekend with some dear friends. We hadn't seen their faces in so long it seems- life is too busy sometimes. Something I realized while they were here is that I love and feel loved so much more when I can see them, touch them and experience them with all of my senses. We talk on the phone when they are at their house but it is not the same as having them right there in my living room (or me in theirs). Having them where I was is the real deal.

While we were visiting, they told me about a trip they had taken and visited another church while there. You could say this was a mega-church (it had at least three separate sanctuaries, they parked in lot J, and there where something like 6 nursery rooms just for the two year olds). My friends went on to explain that each sanctuary had their own worship band and greeting pastor and then while you were praying together, a screen the size of the stage was lowered and an HD broadcast of the real preacher came on and everyone watched the same message that looked like the same stage you just saw.

What struck me about this was that while it would seem nice that they had made it as personal as they could (if you had bad eyesight or kept your head down and your eyes closed during prayer time, you might not even realize what happened), it was not real. The pastor that was preaching was not really there. If I had a two year old, would they ever be in the same room with someone they knew? Would I ever be able to make real relationships there if I was in a different sanctuary each Sunday? And ultimately, was this looking like the Church Jesus came to create?

Now, I am NOT out to look down on this church- I am sure it is doing everything it knows to do. It does make me think about our relationship with the Lord though. Are we making it real. There is something about seeing my friends' faces and hugging their neck (or getting hugged by them). There is also something about gathering together as a body of believers and being discipled while forming personal relationships with God's workmanship. It might not seem big, but I think from personal experience, there is a lot to be said for being able to see, touch and feel (although I don't recommend you touching all over your pastor next Sunday) your pastor. Ultimately, I think it carries over to our relationship with the Lord in that if the relationships we are seeing modeled here are real and tangible, we too will believe that our relationship with the Lord is and can be real and tangible as well. This seems more like the Church Jesus came to save.

So, while we can't turn people away because we are getting too big as a church, maybe we shouldn't be so focused on numbers either. It just might make room for some relationships. That would be the real deal.