Discipleship: On Stage vs. Behind the Scenes

A while back I was driving down I-25 in Albuquerque and saw a billboard that read: “Just skip church. It’s… Read more Discipleship: On Stage vs. Behind the Scenes

A while back I was driving down I-25 in Albuquerque and saw a billboard that read: “Just skip church. It’s all fake news.” The billboard, which was sponsored by American Atheists, got me thinking. Why is it that many people view church as being fake? Of course, some people would point to hypocrisy as a critical factor, which we’re all guilty of to some degree — that is, no one lives out their convictions with perfect consistency (including atheists). However, I began realizing perhaps another cause of this allegation. So much of what we know as “church” these days happens on stage under bright lights — sometimes aided by fog machines and Cold Play-like theatrics. Which is exactly what you want when orchestrating a professional performance, but shouldn’t church be more than a “performance”? Anybody can stand on stage and project an image, engage an audience, and even espouse a belief system, but our generation is well-versed in being able to distinguish a performance of characters on stage from the reality of who those characters are in real life. Could our love affair with “on-stage Christianity” be unwittingly hindering the authenticity of our message and ministry?

Don’t get me wrong.  This is not one of those Millennial anti-Church rants.  I love Christ’s Church — His Bride, His Body, His Beloved.  I just don’t think the word “church” should be synonymous with the on-stage, performance-side of a Sunday morning worship service.  Rather, I think we need to reaffirm that discipleship is more than passing on information and inspiration through silver-tongued sermons or concert-quality worship.  The information of discipleship has to be modeled, embodied, lived, and then imitated.  Therefore, discipleship can’t happen on stage — it happens behind the scenes.

Discipleship lives and breathes in kitchens, living rooms, and laundry rooms; at ball games, parties, and play dates; in board rooms, locker rooms, and classrooms; in coffee shops, around campfires, and at the dinner table.  This is where real life happens, and this is where we can show what the Kingdom of God really looks like — while we’re passing the biscuits.  Ideally, our church gatherings inspire and equip us to leave our church campuses and permeate society once again so we can be disciples who make disciples behind the scenes (sans fog machines).  Maybe if we were more aware of the power and potential of the Church to impact culture Monday – Saturday, the gap between what’s said on stage and what’s lived behind the scenes would sound a whole lot less like “fake news.”

By the way, since we’re on the subject of billboards…