No. Churches shouldn’t be recording or streaming church services.
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With the advances our society has made in technology, churches have quickly become more technological without really considering theological or cultural implications in relation with the Gospel message and nature of the church. Now, before you get too judgmental, hear me out. I don’t have a problem with streaming or recording church services as actions in and of themselves. The first line of this episode was a hook to get you listening. I do fear the streaming and recording tendencies have affected our hearts in a negative way. So, I want to churn your thoughts. Follow the Holy Spirit’s conviction in this matter, not mine.
There are three main justifications provided by people who want to stream or record their worship services.
- Serve the homebound and absent,
- Evangelism and outreach, and
- Education for a broader audience than one congregation.
I will admit. It seems attractive to stream or record services so the homebound and those who have to miss a gathering to be able to pull the video up on their phones or televisions and, in some way, participate in the gathering. But, we have to realize that they are not actually participating. They are observing. Christ never commanded His people to go to church in the sense that they go to observe people performing. The nature of the church requires that we gather together to serve one another (, not observe a “worship service.”
Hebrews 10:23-25 says:
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
Paul doesn’t say, “not forsaking our own assembling together, but observing a worship service all the more as you see the day drawing near.” He tells us to stimulate one another to love and good deeds by coming together and encouraging one another. When we stream for the purpose of including the homebound and absent, we insinuate that being part of the church is about the production, not the people. We force our pastors into their offices to develop content rather than minister to the people. We substitute an “online service” for real, human connection. We effectively isolate the homebound and absent even more, and justify it by saying, “but we are doing this so they can be included…” Just like social media, which was meant to connect people, has effectively created an isolated generation, so streaming and recording has effectively isolated those who can’t come to church. What if we were more like the deacons in Acts 6? What if we stepped up to make sure no one is neglected and everyone had real, human connection? Even if we choose to record and develop content, we can’t use it to excuse ourselves from actually going to those who can’t come to us.
I also wonder if streaming and recording actually helps with evangelism and outreach? I know. We brag about numbers of views like the actually mean anything. I spent years cultivating a blog and podcast ministry, was reaching 30-thousand unique viewers every year, and ultimately discovered it didn’t mean much. In my mind, I was reaching people with the Gospel and training hundreds of pastors via online communication platforms like Zoom. I took credit for the wonderful work I thought I was doing. In the end, God is always the one who brings growth. When we win people to video and audio communication, we win them to audio and video communication. Pastors who focus on content development tend to spend their time on content development rather than ministering to the body. People will plug into church and feel disconnected from their pastors because their pastors are more interested in an online audience than in caring for the body. But, “people may see the videos and come to church!” Perhaps, but at that point they are coming because of a personality, not because they love Jesus and want to plug into a place of service for the good of the church and glory of Christ. “How will people know what our church services are like if they don’t see it online?” Why should they? If they step into a church because the video of the church service was good, they are coming because of the production, not out of conviction–which brings me to an interesting point.
Read through the entire New Testament. It doesn’t say anything about making church services a production. When we stream or record, our minds are on getting the right equipment, making things look good, and making sure our transitions are smooth. We spend way too much money on audio/visual equipment to make sure the big man has his 40 minutes of fame each week. We are focused on making a worship service looks and feels good and spiritual. When our attention is on these types of things, it’s not on Christ. It’s certainly not on the present congregation. When we speak, we are speaking for the camera, not to the people. Our applications take on a more general feel rather than specific for the people in our midst. Pastors begin worrying more about how their broader audiences are responding than how they are knowing and serving their church people. That’s why many pastors today see themselves as influencers instead of biblical pastors. Our churches become cults of expertism rather than communities of mutual service.
Finally, people will stream to expand their teaching beyond one congregation–to a social media, online, or multicampus audience. This tendency only exacerbates the aforementioned problems. Pastors become distant and unapproachable. Congregants become isolated, even if they are attending a church campus. The production becomes the highlight of our involvement.
Obviously, I believe there is a place for content development. It should never become our idol–I think it has in many places.
What if we stopped streaming? What if our worship services were actually about creating opportunities for people to serve one another? What if we purposefully chose to focus on people rather than production? I think the church would grow in number and sincerity. What do you think? Are we bold enough to think less of ourselves and stop using the pulpit to pursue fame? Are we ready to stand against the celebrity pastor and teacher church culture we find ourselves in?
1 Corinthians 14:26:
What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.
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