(BTW, Sorry for the long interlude… we had a baby! That’ll get your schedule off!)
At last! For years, I’ve heard the rumors of an interesting new product, and now I have finally received some of my own. They’re supposed to “change the way we do church,” save us time and energy, and bring us together in a way nothing else ever could.
I’m speaking, of course, about pre-packaged communion kits. I received my sample pack in the mail just a few minutes ago. In a little packet about the size of a normal communion cup, you have the bread and juice all put together in one powerful little package. There’s even an inspirational verse on the top to remind you what it’s for!
No need for the meticulous and careful preparation of the feast. We can save all that time spent filling up little juice cups and cutting up bread squares. No need to lovingly polish up two sets of trays – these are designed to save space by putting the whole communion meal in one delivery! And think of the time we’ll save – now we only have to pass the plate once, saving hundreds of seconds wasted in worship!
What’s wrong with this picture? Has the celebration of our Lord’s feast – his Last Supper, the commemoration of his death – been reduced to a McDonald’s take-out meal? All we’re missing is the little toy at the bottom.
Now in their defense, I can see the use for these little kits. There are places and times when it would be much easier to do things this way. Who knows? I might even use these little sample packs in my visiting rounds sometime (as long as the use-by date is still good).
But I think that this marketing gimmick betrays something of the way we’ve begun to think about church and the Christian life. We want “spirituality-to-go,” fast food communion and limited involvement in church. Our drive for productivity in other areas of life has seeped into our spiritual lives as well, and we want “more bang for our buck,” maximum impact with minimum input.
Why not spirituality workouts, too? “Get closer to God in just seconds a day! Call in the next 30 minutes and we’ll throw in this Power-Prayer belt that will trim your waistline, too. A $35 can be yours absolutely free when you order the No-Time-for-God Workout Video!”
If only spirituality were that easy. It asks for more than 30 seconds a day, more than 10 minutes or even 10 hours a day. The call of Christ asks for every second of every day of every year that we have. Try fitting THAT into a bite-sized package!
Posted by Jon 