WORLDWIDE EVANGELIST! HEALING SERVICE! CONCERT FRIDAY NIGHT! DON'T MISS OUT! IT'S THE PLACE TO BE! MIRACLES EVERY SUNDAY! ANOINTED PROPHETIC MINISTRY!

Don't start running just now. As enticing as all these mock headlines sound, they may be hazardous to your spiritual health.

Have I stepped on your toes yet?

You see, we live in a media age, and we are becoming a media seduced people. Success is determined by numbers. Interest is piqued by "splash and glitz." Even our Christianity is being seduced by the great media god, as Christians run from event to event, in an attempt to find God.

But, Christianity is not an event. It is a relationship with the person of Christ. Likewise, the church should not be an event, but an experience of relationship with Jesus, and His people.

Have I stepped on your white patent leather shoes yet?

For people who are in the small church, there may be a feeling of being outside the "cutting edge" of the Church. It is the regret that somehow, the miracles are passing us by.

Vital Christianity is relational by nature, just like the small church is relational by nature. It is nearly impossible to get out of the small church, without people being friendly to you. God forbid, you might even get hugged by someone! At least, that's the way it's supposed to be. Big events are non-relational by nature, and do not necessarily impact your relational skills. Many people enjoy big events, because they enjoy the anonymity.

True Christianity is participatory in nature, just like the small church is participatory by nature. It requires "all hands on deck" to keep the small church going, and this is the plan for God's church anyway - 100% of the people involved in the work of the ministry. An event is non-participatory in nature: someone performs, you watch; someone speaks, you listen; a few work, and many sit. (Sounds like some Sunday mornings, you say?)

Have I stepped on your black leather wing-tips yet?

Christians running from event to event is a grave problem in American Christianity today. We have sold out our relationships with the local church, for the sake of the "hot hands," and the silver tongues. Often, people determine which church they should attend, on the basis of who holds the best events. When someone else comes around with a hotter show, they're off again. This isn't Christianity, it's a new religion - Eventism.

The mad dash to hold the "greatest show in town" is not a temptation for most small churches - we simply can't afford to stay in the race. So, we sit on the sidelines, and watch as people pass us by, looking for the better seats in the bigger bleachers.

We can do something better however. We can begin to focus on building a church of relating, and participating saints, who can have a greater impact on the world, than a thousand pew sitters will ever have.

Perhaps you think, that I'm being a little too tough on this point. Perhaps you believe that there are some good events, which are positive lights on the Christian scene. I'll agree with you on that - there are some good events. I'll even compromise with you just a touch - I'll send you a quarter for a shoe shine.