Remember Blockbuster?
Blockbuster has become a bit of a joke to Gen Xers and older Millennials, but there was a time when they were a staple of American life. Everyone went to a Blockbuster to rent movies! They were the nation’s leader in providing access to video entertainment. When Netflix began providing a new service of mail-in DVD’s, however, it grabbed the nation’s attention.
Now you could watch movies without leaving your home! Just go online, set up your queue, and the movies would arrive at your door! The growing popularity of the Internet in the late 90’s and early 2000’s was changing the way people consumed media, but for some reason Blockbuster doubled down on its movie rental store model.
During times of culture shift, every organization needs to look inward and ask “Who are we, why do we exist?” For Blockbuster, it was to provide access to media. The next big question needs to be “How can we do that best in our current context?” For Blockbuster, the answer should have included using the power of the internet to make media access easier for the consumer. Instead, they kept doing what they always did. Now they don’t do anything.
Netflix, on the other hand, showed itself to be capable of adapting to cultural change. Netflix’s model of shipping DVDs directly to consumers was innovative, made media consumption easier for the consumer, and it followed the culture’s growing reliance on the internet. As the internet became faster and more capable of hosting larger forms of media, people started streaming movies online. In the face of this new streaming trend, Netflix adapted as fast as the consumer did by providing both services, gradually shifting to be a streaming service. They are now the industry standard for movie streaming, and their once greatest competitor, Blockbuster, is a foregone memory of times past.
The Church is facing a similar culture shift today. While many people in modern America are interested in Jesus, the Church is in rapid decline. According to Barna, the leading statics group on trends in the Church in America, 73% of Americans identify as Christian. That means about three out of every four Americans claim to follow Jesus Christ! On the other hand, another Barna report shows that only four out of ten Americans claim to have gone to church last Sunday. Furthermore, only 6% of Christians who have ever been to church claimed to have learned something about God the last time they went to church! Another way to say this is that 94% of Americans who went to church last Sunday didn’t learn or grow at all. They went to church, went home, and nothing changed. No wonder people don’t want to go to church anymore!
The sad truth about the Church in America today is that, while people know they need to be closer to God, they don’t find much value in going to church. Our model of church is failing to achieve its purpose.
Something needs to change.
We can follow the example of Blockbuster by doubling down on doing what we’ve always done. I think we know where that goes. On the other hand, the Church doesn’t need to reinvent itself with clever models, like Netflix did. That’s never been how the Church moves forward. Instead, Christians adapt through prayer and submission to the Spirit of God. We win when we trust that He will move His Church. In the meantime, we need to be flexible, willing to adapt to the subtle moves of the Holy Spirit, ready to go when He sends us into unknown territory. Then, following His leadership, we will find out how to make the Church matter in a shifting culture.
Changes in culture have never killed the Church before and they won’t start now. If we want to move forward with society, we need to be willing to change and adapt. Like soft clay in the Potter’s hand, let’s allow the Spirit of God to form and shape us into what He wants us to be today and into the future.
Jesus, help me to follow your lead. Help me let go of what I think is best and grab hold of what You have in store. I trust you. Amen.