To provide a teachable moment on TikTok, I made a quick commentary on how SNL's coverage of the Try Guys scandal was very similar to the underlying, often unspoken sentiment that - just like YouTubers are not *real* entertainers - the digital church is not *real* church. My first mistake, of course, was saying anything at all. I'm not one for the limelight, so mostly I leave the controversial out of my mouth. But I did this time. And I quickly got a commenter on how a digital church isn't a real church. The digital church, they said, is simply a temporary solution for the sick and the elderly.
I should have left it there, but I made my second mistake and continued the conversation. I left the 'digital church is not real church' argument out of it and instead asked for feedback on why we're only willing to meet halfway on the elderly and the sick and not the ostracized and othered - specifically with our contextual nerd, geek, and gamer.
Then things got out of hand - a new person stepped in and said the issue with the digital church is that it doesn't benefit anyone and fulfills none of the functions of the church. As of yet, I haven't continued this conversation because it's not a *real* conversation (see what I did there). But this is an excellent place to address the pressing matter: Has Checkpoint Church benefitted anyone?
I'll go on a whole diatribe in our sermon this Sunday. But let's hit some of the highlights from our goals for 2022. Did we raise over $5000 as a community towards causes we cared about? Yep. I bet that benefitted someone. Did we amass 1010 posts to our #Prayer-Requests channel? We did. I prayed for each one personally. I believe that helped plenty of folks. Did two LVL2 members and I sit for virtual coffee with 40 new people this year? We did. I benefitted, at the very least. Between 138 videos and 159 live streams, have we let people know every single time that God loves them, we love them, and they matter? Yes, we did. And we're not stopping. Random TikTok accounts don't speak for us - the Spirit is here. How has Checkpoint Church benefitted you?
Comments