About 20 years ago, my wife and I owned a production company. We created videos and designed graphics for churches and ministries (click the following link to view our super secret video project archive playlist: https://rumble.com/playlists/II8gOCGIiVo ). Additionally, we served as the creative directors for the church we attended. I prioritized everything to be the highest quality for online distribution.
I’m 41 now, and between life and ministry experience, I have discovered one BIG truth — while online is good in a pinch, in-person Spirit-led community is the key to real transformational freedom and spiritual maturity.
Staying home and watching church online while folding laundry while your kid is vomiting into a bowl isn’t bad (we’ve all been there) — but we cannot pretend it’s discipleship. Double-tapping a Bible verse or reposting a Christian quote by a famous Christian doesn’t equal evangelism. Following your favorite mega-pastor’s highlight reel is no substitute for a personally prophetic word from your Pastor or Spiritual leader.
Real Christian community is meant to be uncomfortably close. I’m talking about eyeball-to-eyeball, sweaty tears, snot on the shoulder, terrible hot morning stale coffee breath in your face, close. It is the “I see your mess, and I’m not going anywhere” kind of intimacy… likely because you both have enough dirt on each other at this point.
The early church wasn’t built on social media platforms or long-distance relationships. It was built on proximity. They met daily (Acts 2.46), shared meals (Acts 2.42), and carried each other’s burdens (Galatians 6.2). There was no mute button. No swipe-away option. Just messy, vulnerable, Spirit-led relationships that shaped them into the image of Jesus.
The reality is, the more “connected” we seem to be online, the more disconnected we feel. That is because we’re designed for messy, personal-space-invading vulnerability. Non-offensively curated, politically correct, sterilized Christian content. We are to be people who will speak the uncomfortably personal truth in relationally invested love (Ephesians 4.15). We are to sharpen each other like two pieces of metal, sanding off each other’s cold flesh-cutting burrs (Proverbs 27.17). We are to stick with each other when it’s awkward, slow, or inconvenient (Proverbs 18.24). I’m talking about those late-night phone calls you get from a friend who needs to be rushed to the ER because he has a bleeding ulcer from eating a tortilla chip wrong, or he decided to drill through his hand rather than move it (yes, real phone calls I have received). It’s the “we’re heading out of town for vacation, but [insert friend’s name] stops by because he found out his wife is cheating on him and he was on his way to the guy’s house to blow him away, but thought he should come by first” kind of mess (yes, another real moment).
In-person ministry (read: real, face-to-face relationship) is meant to be jarringly invasive — because transformation requires intimate proximity. We are not designed to heal or grow in isolation. We are not designed to confess to an impersonal livestream. We are not designed to grow without someone looking us in the eye and calling us to trust the Holy Spirit in a real, uncomfortable, and personal way.
So ask yourself this week, what’s one way I can make time for face-to-face faith this week — even if it’s awkwardly vulnerable, inconveniently timed, or costs me something?
The reality is, it may not be your faith that needs to grow. But your willingness to show up and be present may be exactly what God needs from you in that moment.
God bless,
Nathan
