The book Analog Church raises some excellent questions about the way we do church.
The author is Jay Kim.
Here are 7 of my favorite takeaways from the book.
1. "[As pastors] we felt the strong temptation of the digital age -- the temptation to pursue relevance at any cost."
2. "The digital age entices and invites us into this never-ending stream of 'frenetic shallowness'."
3. "At their worst, social media and digital spaces create a false sense of connection and a facade of community. And they are very skilled at their ruse."
4. "Rather than a single church community singing together, we are increasingly becoming a gathering of audiences who watch the professionals perform."
5. "What were originally intended to connect us more meaningfully to God and one another have now become impediments and obstacles. The shine and sparkle of lyric projection and flashy lighting in our churches are actually repelling the new generations they were meant to reach."
6. "Rather than creating a sense of personal connection and intimacy with the preacher, in many multisite churches people now sit and watch a communicator who can't see them, hear them, or feel their responsive presence to what's unfolding in real time."
7. "The church is designed to do and to be something Facebook, or any other social media or online platform, could never be -- a real gathering of real people, as unlikely and different as they are."