Twitter Tracker

As I mentioned in my last post, I recently opened a twitter account (you may follow me @thadaniel if you like). While the idea of twitter is still rather silly to me, I can't help but admit I'm somewhat addicted at checking my account. I like seeing what people are up to, and I narcissisticly enjoy letting people know what I am doing. What can I say - I like staying in the know :)


www.imb.com/rainnwilson


One tweet that recently caught my eye was from Rainn Wilson, who plays the character "Dwight Schrute" on The Office. He wrote "Baha'is don't have mega-churches, just mega-potlucks." Interesting thought from a non-believer (that is, a non-believer in Jesus Christ as God's Son and Sovereign). His comment was a tactful one, not directly putting down a mega-church, and you could even argue he was not implying anything negative. Nonetheless, he brings two different aspects of faith communities together: a building used to house worship and to act as the central base, and a meal, which represents a basic need, an opportunity to be in fellowship, and bringing people together on a level playing field.


http://tinyurl.com/2gxnd38

To some, a mega-church represents establishment, power, an institution, and consumerism. I personally don't look at it that way; however, its easy to understand how others could. Even for me, a person who has no problem with a mega-church for being big, it is easy to fall prey to marveling over state-of-the-art facilities, the best programs, high-tech worship productions, etc. For many, however, these frivolous things are necessary to get them to come to church. Without such trappings, some would have never come to know Jesus. For this reason, you'll never see me write or speak against mega-churches.

Now that that's out of the way, let me get back to Wilson's tweet. Between mega-bricks and morter and mega-food, I'll always take the calories. I want to be a part of a community that brings people together, that provides opportunities for people to share something, and recognizes the things we have in common. If we do not eat, we die. If we are without people, we are miserable. If we cannot be heard, what we have to offer the world will never be known. I have never been to a Baha'i temple. I've seen one, and it looks like it's just a house. If I'm merely judging from Wilson's portrayal of the faith, it seems Baha'i has its priorities right when it comes to making meeting together more about our commonalities, expressions, and needs as opposed to our entertainment, comfort, and visual delight.

Mega-churches have the same ability to make meeting together about what's important. I whole-heartedly belive many of them do. My hope is that all communities - big, medium, and small - will constantly challenge their approaches to being that genuine community of faith that draws people in and helps change them forever. When this happens, our message to the world is clear. We are not about fog machines, lcd projectors, or 3rd stories. We are about Jesus, who truly knows our needs, who is the reason we have something in common, and who gave us the ability to offer something to the world.

Mega-potlucks will be held daily in heaven. Let's keep (or start) practicing.