In person vs. online

Ah, it’s the debate of the whatever we are in now. It’s a big debate in the church. What’s the right approach? Going all in on hybrid and online ways of doing things or scrapping them to focus attention fully on in person gatherings? I’ve heard so many of the arguments and have made them myself. And like most arguments in churches, the arguments fall on deaf ears because most of us have already made up our minds and we can easily dismiss anything we disagree with. Fun times!

The more I’ve thought about this lately, the more I have come to the conclusion that the debate is pointless — not unlike so many debates that go on in churches.

That’s because the debate is on the wrong focus.

Being in person is not some kind of silver bullet solution for churches. If it was, it would have been working great before the pandemic. It wasn’t and it hasn’t for decades. It’s not the being in person that matters the most.

Hybrid and online options are not the silver bullet solutions for churches either. If they were, we’d see amazing long term sustained growth. We aren’t. It’s not the technology that matters the most.

You want to know what matters the most — trust. If you don’t have trust, it doesn’t matter if you are in person or online. If you can’t trust the people you are with, then no amount of in person or online connection will matter.

But if you have trust with someone, then here’s what I also know — whether you are in person or online won’t matter either…