I did something last night and this morning I've never done before. I watched the video of new releases from Apple. The new iphone 5 peaked my interest the most. But I noticed many things that made me think of church-world and the worship gatherings we craft.
The standard of Apple is taking over the standard of the PC. I don't mean that because I am (increasingly) a fan of Apple products. I say that because of market share. The values of this company are resonating with the values of our culture.
Are ours? Apple seems to be touting their excellence, craftsmanship, beauty, etc. I'm reminded of the instructions of God to those building a temple...
And the bar is being raised across the board. In this TWO HOUR video the quality of production was spectacular (though not perfect). The quality of the presenters was genuine, prepared, and there was no evidence of personality "veneer" allowed on their platform. They ended with a live band playing music, and I can imagine the audience was engaged... sang along... was moved.
My friends, what I watched was not a worship service celebrating our salvation giving Master. I was the celebration of human achievement.
Do we give the same level of thought, energy, preparation, rehearsal, and passion to the eternal Savior of the world as these folks did to some new pieces of amazing technology that will be obsolete in 2-3 years? (There was no such thing as an iphone in 2006.)
I'm reminded of one of the target audience of our local churches... those still far from God. This Apple presentation is their "normal." Our "normal" has to be better. Our "product" (the gospel) is, quite literally, infinitely more valuable and essential. But their standards seem to be higher than ours.
Are they?
Should they be?
What do we do about it?
I'd love to hear from you!
You were there Sunday when Rod announced that 54% of Immanuel's active members were the age of 50 and over. Where are the people under 50? I hope that they are being reached by some church in town. Don't get me wrong, I am not only thinking of the ones under 50. As you said, our target audience is still those far from God. We need to tap into the biggest areas of communication today ... and that is not as hard as it seems. Take the iPhone, iPod or iPad and the masses they reach ... and all the different areas they or any other device covers: Twitter or Facebook - conversations or comments that can be heard instantaneously, iTunes (or other music services) - everyone loves music, such an easy way to spread the gospel, apps - take your bible anyhere .... young AND old use all of these areas. Someone that may not be "in the building" every Sunday can still be reached by other means.
ReplyDeleteI love your blog Rod ... we miss you at IBC, but I think you are headed to exactly where you are suppose to be!
**Ron (not Rod) ... sorry
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