Has Social Media Replaced the "Church" Experience?

If you've read this blog before, you know I'm a sports fan, although most of my sports-related posts have been about baseball. But this morning, I was watching Mike & Mike on ESPN2 and they were discussing an issue with this year's NFL season as posted in an article in USA Today. Due to a number of factors, there is an anticipated increase in the number of NFL blackouts this season. A blackout occurs when a team does not sell all its tickets to a home game within 72 hours prior to kickoff, according to NFL regulations, television coverage of that game is blacked out from the local market. This gives fans (and corporations) an incentive to purchase tickets to the game.

Among the factors mentioned for the decrease in stadium attendance were poor performance by the teams, bad weather, and the economy-all which can be expected. But the one thing that struck me was technology. Thanks to HDTV technology and things like NFL Redzone (showing the highlights from all the games in real time), the argument can be made that the at-home TV NFL experience is superior to the being at the stadium with all the sights, sounds, smells, and tailgate BBQ. NFL owners have even gone to adding ridiculously large TVs (anyone been to Jerry's World just outside of Dallas?) and now will have NFL Redzone playing live at game time in each of the 31 stadiums. With the number of NFL fans playing Fantasy Football, access to scores and highlights from other games is a critical part of fan attraction.

So has the paradigm shifted? Is watching the game on TV better than being at the stadium? If this truly has taken place, what does that say about other markets that have a goal of putting people in seats...such as a church? Due to media technology, websites, and the rise in popularity of certain TV preachers, has "getting my church on at home" become easier (seemingly superior) than getting the family up, dressed, and after a 15-minute knockdown drag-out fight getting everyone loaded up in the minivan only to arrive 10 minutes late for Sunday School after the coffee and donuts have just run out and your 4-year olds shoes are still on the wrong feet? When you think about it that way, it's no wonder Joel Osteen has such a following. Has following our favorite Christian thinkers on Twitter or Facebook taken the place of showing up each week to hear a sermon from "our" pastors and church leaders?

Hebrews 10:25 says that we should not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing-but we should encourage each other, all the more as we see the day approaching. The connectibility of our world through technology has replaced the need for physical contact in some places. We all have the internet in our pockets. We all read each others tweets. We all comment to each other on Facebook. But what about "meeting together" as the writer of Hebrews instructed? Are their implications for the church in this culture shift? Do churches need to find ways to reconnect people? One culture shift is the way social media has become geographic with things like Four Square which has made the "miles away" feeling of social media become about being close in physical proximity. So is the church doing all it can to make the church experience superior to the connectivity of the Bedside Church? What can we do to improve?

Fantasy Football? What about Fantasy Christianity?

It's fall again and pre-season football is in full swing. We've even gotten through the recent annual tradition of waiting on Brett Favre's decision to return to football. It's like a $16M professional sports version of Groundhog Day, waiting for Punxsutawney Brett to see his shadow. And while I'm excited about the pre-season hype for my Dallas Cowboys, I'm also excited about another season of Fantasy Football. This is my third year playing and I'm hoping for a great draft.

If you're not familiar with Fantasy Football, it's pretty simple. I have a "team" made up of a number of offensive players (quarterbacks, receivers, running backs, tight ends, and kickers (sorry linemen)) who are all from different NFL teams. As these players play each week, I get points for their performances-6 points for a touchdown, 1 point for every 10 yards of rushing or receiving, 3 points for a field goal, etc. There are more players on your roster than what you are allowed to play each week. So the trick is to play which players you think will perform well in a particular match-up. And with the miracles of modern technology, the computer automatically tracks the stats and points for you. Each week you go head to head against one of your buddies and at the end of 12 weeks, the best fantasy players make the playoffs.

But as I contemplated all things fantasy sports, my brain wandered to the idea of "Fantasy Christianity" and what that would look like. And the more I thought about it, the more I think it's something that unfortunately already exists. I've not played a down of football since 9th grade, but through Fantasy Football, I live vicariously through "my" players without ever so much as putting on a pair of cleats. Just as I am not actually playing football, I think many of us sit on the sidelines of the Christian faith, letting others do the work, while we miss out on the blessings of serving others. What I mean by this is that we live our Christianity out vicariously through our pastors, staff members, and missionaries whom we may support in various ways. All the while there is work to be done all around us. We go to church on Sunday and see how our fantasy team has been performing. Our pastor reports that he had a great visit with a new family who is joining the church soon-that puts some points on the board. A missionary comes to thank the church for the support we give monthly and shares of all the great things going on in a different part of the world, and our fantasy points just keep rising! Some youth lead the church in worship and we are swooning because of our connection to all these fine ministries.

But is that what the church is all about? Just show up on Sunday and see how our "team" is doing? What about all the opportunities during the week to love and serve others? James says that actions must accompany our faith. I know I do not do all I can to make the most of every encounter I have with people. I also know even as a staff member, that I sometimes guage my spiritual health based on my church's fantasy points, and not on my individual performance. So how do we avoid Fantasy Christianity?

I suggest these three things.

1. Don't compartmentalize our lives. In other words, try not to have church friends, work friends, family friends, etc. We will all have different circles with whom we interact, but it is important that we don't act differently around each group. This allows our faith to impact everyone we encounter, not just our "church friends."

2. Determine our spiritual gifts and find ways to implement those in our daily lives and in our church lives. The Bible lays out numerous spiritual gifts in the New Testament that are personality traits we all have. Once we understand how God has wired us, it makes it easier for us to serve others in ways that are natural to us.

3. View Sunday as a celebration of what God has done in the rest of our week. Hopefully God has placed people in our path that we can help or impact. Let Sunday be a day when we can pray about these relationships and celebrate the ministry we have in them.

Have you ever caught yourself playing Fantasy Christianity? What would you do to help people get off the sidelines and into the action?