I Want To Be red Box!

The other night, I went to a place I hadn’t been in a while - Blockbuster Video. Remember when Blockbuster was the main place you went for your video rentals? Remember when you wondered if the movie you wanted would be there or not? Oh, how far the mighty have fallen! The store was practically empty with hit after hit movie available on the shelf. I almost felt bad for them.

Blockbuster is an example of a company that did not change fast enough for the times. I can only guess how this happened. Maybe they had no imagination of delivering videos in any other manner or maybe they felt secure in their position at the top of the video world that they saw no reason to change. No matter the reason, they have been dethroned and nearly rendered obsolete by companies like Netflix and Red Box that offer cheaper and more convenient ways of delivering videos to customers.

The church has also been guilty of Blockbuster mentality. Although, most of my friends and probably even you seem to be involved in churches that you love, where God shows up every Sunday, lives are changes or at least touched, and you leave encouraged and blessed, the reality is that the church is and has been on decline for many years. Let’s look at the traditional church as Blockbuster. The traditional or denominational church is in steepest decline. Although they use to be the main way church was presented and embraced, they offered little or no change as the times and culture changed. It doesn’t mean they are all in decline or that God is not using them or showing up there. Yours may be an exception. I’m just saying that, statistically, they are losing ground the fastest. They, like Blockbuster, are being less frequented and left behind. They are still present but not the force they once were.

Netflix came along and quickly cut in on Blockbuster’s dominance. They lowered overhead by eliminating the storefront, utilized technology by being internet driven, eased customer frustration by always having the desired title available, offered cheaper rental rates with no late fees, all while allowing customers access to DVDs from the comfort of their own home. The contemporary church has grown in a similar manner. They downplayed the importance of a building by renting existing community spaces such as schools and theaters, utilized current technology to connect to a generation that has, not only, grown comfortable with such technology but relies on it and requires it, and made church easier by creating a more “come as you are” atmosphere. But even with the success of the contemporary church movement, we have not stemmed the decline of the church in America. We still need to find new ways to bring the Kingdom and it’s Gospel to the world.

That’s why I want to be Red Box. Red Box has also had great success in providing movie rentals to the customers. They have a smaller inventory and all rentals are just a dollar but the true brilliance of Red Box is that they are where you are. I rarely used Red Box until moving to Denver but they are everywhere here. They are in Wal-Marts, McDonald’s, the grocery stores, the drug stores, anywhere that people are already going. There is no extra stop at a specialized store and you don’t have to wait for it to come in the mail. You can get it where you are at the time that you want it. I believe that God has called me to a similar approach. If, in all our efforts to try to get people to come to church, people are still staying away and the church remains in decline, then why not take church to where the people are? What if, instead of starting “local” expressions of the church, we started true “community” expressions of the church? What would happen if you started being the church in your specific community, on your street, in your sub-division? What if people from your community started gathering in your home or at your clubhouse? There are movements like this happening all over the US and I want to be part of it. That’s why we have moved into a place where community should be more of a natural element - an apartment complex. If, as statistics say, 95% of apartment dwellers do not attend a local church then why not bring the church to them? I believe that God has called us to advance the Kingdom and it’s Gospel one community at a time starting at Hampden Heights in Denver, CO. It won’t be easy or without its obstacles but perhaps, as Jonathan told his armor-bearer before entering an impossible battle, “the Lord will be with us” and we will see “Red Box” churches spring up all over Denver.