I love drive-thrus. You are literally in and out in no time.
If you dont want to smell the sweat of other patrons whilst standing in the queue, or entering into conversations you are not interested in, or introduce yourself to people you will probably never meet again, then drive-thrus are the place to go. Some drive-thrus promise you that you will never spend more than 5 minutes at their outlets.
There are drive-thrus for fast foods, for automatic teller machines (ATMs), for car washes, and many other services. One other service that has entered the drive-thru market is the church service. Yes – the church service! At one of such churches in the USA you get a five minute church service. You get a one-minute sermon, a one-minute Bible study class, a one-minute choir song, one-minute news update about the congregation, and one minute of passing the collection plate and making a donation. You can even have a drive-thru wedding there. One of the members of such a church in the US, who never used to be a regular at church said, But now that I can get my weekly worshipping done in five minutes, I go every week. Thank you, Jesus!
A relational entity
I think her comment tells more than meets the eye about what the drive for drive-thru churches is all about (please excuse the pun). She says she can get her worshipping done in five minutes! We do not go to church for worshipping. Whilst the word church today has a connotation of a place or a building, that is far from what it originally meant. Church simply meant a group of believers, the called out ones. A church is therefore a relational entity. It is a connected community of believers. In fact, in the Biblical sense, Koinonia (the Greek word) means communion by intimate participation. Although there is worship in song when the church meets, and there is teaching, and there is praying, these are a result of the fact that people are together. It is not the reason the people are together. Although people go to their homes at the end of the day after work and take a bath, eat, and sleep, it is not the reason people go home after work. They go home because they want to be with their families. If bathing, eating and sleeping were the reason they went home at the end of the day, they could just as well drop in at the nearest hotel or bed and breakfast.
It is because of family that they go home. They want to know how the day has been with their spouses, their children and whoever they live with. They want to hug their spouses and children. They want to share a meal with them. That is why, if you live with others in a family, it is not a good idea to catch a burger on the way home. You share a meal with the family. Family is the relationship. Church is the same. It is a family of believers. Once when Jesus was told that his mother and brothers were looking for him, he replied by asking Who is my mother and brothers? Pointing to his disciples he said these were his mother and brothers.
When we go to church, we are going home. We go there to hear how it is going with our brothers and sisters. We want to encourage them if they are discouraged. The writer of the book of Hebrews puts it this way: Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. (Hebrews 10:24, 25 NLT).
It is not just about motivating one another. It is about motivating one another to acts of love and good works.
I think drive-thru churches miss the essential reasons why we go to church. The downfall of the modern family is primarily due to the fact that most families are no longer places where people live together as a community in communion with one another. They are places where people sleep, bath and eat, with very little communion and interaction between them. If the drive-thru church movement grows, we are going to see the downfall of church as we know it.
Members share the same blood
Paul compares the church to a body with many parts. What is telling for me is that the parts of the body are connected to each other, and they are interdependent on one another. They share the same blood. So do the members of the church. What brings them into communion with one another is the blood of Christ. They cannot exist apart from each other. A drive-thru service will not do. A drive-thru church is a church where every member thinks they do not need anybody, and nobody needs them. They are wrong. We go to a fast food drive-thru for a service we receive. On the other hand, we go to church for a service we can give. The donation you make at the drive-thru church is not giving at all. It is payment for the packaging of your five minute service.
The same is true about TV church, Internet church or Radio church. There are many Christians who think they can sit in front of their TV, computer or next to their radio and listen to their favorite preacher, and that it is the same as church membership. I know it is convenient. You dont have to get out of your house, or change into your Sunday best. But despite the convenience, lets not confuse that with church membership. Church membership is about membership to the body, the body of Christ, joined in real flesh and blood communion.
The God who called us into the church is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They have been in communion with one another for eternity. They want the church to share in that life, a life of love and sharing. That is what the church is about. It is about how we share in the life of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in their dealings with people. As we engage with other church members, we are sharing in Jesus engagement with those members. As we participate in the churchs outreach community service events, we are sharing in what the Father is doing through Jesus, in the Spirit. Jesus said this is what he is going to say when he returns: whenever you clothed my naked brother or sister, fed my hungry orphan, or visited my brothers or sisters in prison, you were doing it to me (Matthew 25:40).
Church is like high contact sport. You cannot participate simply from the seat of your car, or from the comfort of your lounge. You have to smell the sweat, engage in those conversations, help clean up the place, do the dishes, even wash the dirty feet of the other church members.
You cant just drive thru!
P.S. Please note that this article is not about Christians who are not able to meet with others due to poor health or long distances, or for whatever valid reason.