Virtual Preaching
The End of Church as Theater?
State orders requiring people to stay in their homes except for essential work and errands have collided with pastors and other church leaders who insist on continuing to hold their regular church services. See also here. Pastors have complained that they and their “followers” have a constitutional right, as well as a biblical mandate, to gather in large groups to worship the Lord. But the Bible is clear that early churches were small and established in homes, not public buildings.
Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my well beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ. —Rom. 16:5
The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house. —1 Cor. 16:19
Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house. —Col. 4:15
The pastors’ complaints may have more to do with offerings and the pressure of maintaining the overhead of a modern cultural phenomenon than they do with any scriptures. We may be witnessing the end of church as theater, and a return to an Acts-like approach to gatherings.
So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart. —Acts 2:46
Kinfolk and a Beige Gospel
Lisa Abend has written an article in Vanity Fair about the unwinding of the founders of Kinfolk magazine. Kinfolk, if you don’t know, is an independent magazine famously rooted in the idea of intentionality, especially popular with millennials. The story of Nathan Williams, his former partner Katie Searle, and their friends Doug and Katie Bischoff isn’t too interesting, but the comments about the content of the magazine and lifestyle magazines like it, such as Gourmet, Metropolitan Home, Cereal, and Modern Farmer are. Abend quotes Marc Kremers, founder and creative director of the Future Corp., a London-based digital design firm about how these magazines, Kinfolk, in particular, became so wildly popular. He says, “Sometimes a publication catches a moment and crystallizes a certain thing that is happening culturally. It’s going to be a mirror to that moment—it sees it, formats it, and delivers it in a beautiful package. That’s what Kinfolk did.” Kremer explains that this isn’t necessarily good because it essentially precipitates a saccharine-enriched, bland publication that can be summed in one word: beige.
“It’s tasteful to a fault. There’s nothing offensive, nothing that hurts your eyes, nothing that stands out. It’s very beige. An AI bot could probably churn out the same stuff very easily.”
Multi-million dollar amphitheaters. Virtual preachers. Professional worship teams. Preachers in sneakers. Online services (with multiple offerings). Facebook Live. Instagram selfies. Reality TV. Has Gospel preaching gotten Kinfolk or is it just me?
