Convenience or Quality

When I was a kid we had the media cabinet in our living room with a record player, a cassette player, and sometime in the late 80’s or early 90’s, a CD player.

Records were obviously the mode of sharing recorded music for over 100 years, hitting the scene in the late 1800’s and held that position confidently.  But as all know, dealing with vinyl records is time consuming, they are delicate, things need to be handled with care, and you need a good record player to truly appreciate them.

When cassette tapes were invented in the 60’s it would still take a decade or so before they would come close to toppling the preferred listening mode.  In 1984, they finally did it.  Cassette tapes were how you made mix tapes, how you recorded stuff with your friends, how you could copy and redistribute music and recordings easily from your home.

What we gave up for this convenience…was audio quality.

In 1983, CD’s began their ascent to the dominate preferred music mode.  In 1992 they took over the coveted distribution position.  CD’s sounded better than tapes, it was a lot harder for them to get scratched like records…it would seem as though this place was secure.

In the late 90’s and early 2000’s streaming music through sharing sites seemed to be the next big thing.  It was free…though you may get contacted by the Justice Department, the FBI, or the US Customs Agency with an invitation for an all inclusive stay at one of their properties…so when I say free…I use that term loosely.  It was easily accessible, but the audio quality was terrible.  And at that point, you had to lug around a computer just to listen to your music.

Shorty after this the MP3 became the legit way that people listen to music.  Through tons of different streaming services, you can access just about any song you want, it sounds great, and it can be on your phone, computer, tablet, or even your watch.

Here’s the thing.

As each of these steps have made it easier, more convenient, less glitchy, cost effective and lots of other advantageous things…audio experts say, records are still the highest quality of sound.

We have chosen convenience over quality.  

Most of us can’t tell, we don’t have fine tuned ears or great record players…but we don’t care, simply because it is way more convenient to have Alexa or Siri or Spotify play music for me.

We have done the same thing with our relationships, our community, and others within the body of Christ.  We have traded out what is quality for what is convenient.

It’s easier to listen to your favorite celebrity preacher than to engage in your local community.

It’s easier to DM someone online or send a quick text than to make an actual phone call or sit across the table from someone for coffee.

It’s easier to have distant “friends” or “followers” online that you will likely never run into than to have real relationships with people you run into at the grocery story.

It’s easier to keep things surface level than to dig deep.

It’s easier to redirect conversations or only surround yourself with people who echo back to you what you already think than to sit in challenging thoughts or ideas with people who may see things differently.

When we do this, we are actively distancing ourselves from real quality community simply for what is convenient.  Those things in themselves are not wrong, but they are no substitute for real community with real people who really know you and are doing life with you.

We see throughout the gospels and the early church, they were filled with people that would not be friends in real life.  Do you know that Matthew was a tax collector who basically had turned his back on his Jewish community and chose to partner with the Roman Empire and one of the other disciples, Judas Iscariot was part of a pseudo terrorist group called the Sicarii or dagger men that would attack Roman leaders or others who partnered with the Empire in public places.

Those two guys were hanging out together with Jesus.

Just let that sink in for a moment.

The early church was no different.  People from wildly different perspectives and experiences were choosing to be a part of a group of people to grow in their faith together, to abide in and learn the ways and teachings of Jesus together, to be changed by him together, and to embody and live them out together.

Let’s be really clear.  Community is hard.  It inevitably causes conflict and challenges, but we believe it is worth it.

Jon Tyson says,

“If there is no interpersonal conflict in your life, no elements of your character that you are being confronted about, you are networking, you are not in close community.”

We don’t need more friends or followers online, we don’t need more linked in connections, next door neighbor posts, or hinged relationships.  We need real, authentic people who we share life with.  The good and the bad.  The ups and the downs.  A community who recognizes the diverse perspectives culturally, racially, socially, educationally, politically, experientially, and more, and still chooses to live lovingly humble and faithful lives because we are bound together not by our interests, but by love and find common ground with one another as we are united under God.  By the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, we can be united.

I want to invite you to take a bold step to engage in a community of faith here at The Chapel.  We’ve been laying out some of our priorities and vision for The Chapel over the past few Sundays, and one of those priorities is Community.  In fact, I preached about it on Sunday and if you missed, I encourage you to listen.

Click here for the link to the Spotify podcast

Click here for the link to the Apple podcast

You can also just search “the Chapel at Seaside” wherever you stream podcasts and the sermon is titled “Complicated Relationships”.

We are doing a launch of our new Chapel Communities this Sunday and we could not be more excited.

We believe when we gather with other people and we work to grow in relationship with them it can and will change us.  I get it…like vinyl records, being in community is complicated, dealing with others is time consuming, people are delicate, situations need to be handled with care, and you to be intentional to truly appreciate them.

But you often get out of them, what you put into them.

So.  Would you consider joining us for the Chapel Communities Launch this Sunday, August 25th after worship?  

We are going to be meeting for just 1 hour from 11:30-12:30 so you can head out to lunch after. If you are out of town, or unable to make Sunday’s meeting, we hope you log in to our zoom meeting on Monday night, August 26th at 7:00pm/CST.

No matter if you are a part time resident or a full time resident, in order to be in a Chapel Community, we need everyone to attend a meeting so that we can all stand united in what the purpose and hope is for each of you! We also need you to register so that we know all we can about you to make sure that we find the best community for you!

If you were in a home group that you loved or just started, please don’t worry that you will all be split up. That is not our intention at all. We only have plans of uniting people in ways that are helpful and healthy for each community to be able to thrive and maintain consistency. With that, we still need you to attend the meeting to be placed into your community.

To register for either of the community meetings and answer a few questions to help us as the new Chapel Communities are forming, please register here:

https://thechapelatseaside.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/2434265

I want to be people of quality, of depth, of meaning, of community.

I don’t want to simply be about what is easy, convenient, and agreeable.

Please reach out if you have any questions and please register at the above link if you would like to attend.

Some other things you can connect with this week.

• Like always, we have prayer at noon on Tuesdays at The Chapel.  It is a wonderful and simple time where The Chapel partners with 30A Prays and we get to spend about 60 minutes simply to pray and be with God in the beautiful Chapel.  Come and go as you need.
• Bible studies kick off this week, Wednesday, August 21st and Thursday, August 22nd.  Our Men’s Study on Wednesday meets from 8am-9am, note the new time.  And the Women’s Study on Wednesday meets 9:30am-10:30/11am, also note the new time.  We will study the book of Exodus.  Our young adult/20’s and 30’s group meets on Thursday mornings 8am-9:15am.  They are also studying Exodus.
• 11th Annual Stock The Pantry Event with Food for Thought.  Each year we are proud to partner with Food for Thought to help fight food insecurity in our community! They are collecting food items and raising funds.  Food Items may be brought to The Chapel between now and Sunday, August 25th.  If you want to bring food, please bring the following.
  • Granola Bars / Fruit Wraps
  • Snack Crackers / Breakfast Bars
  • Applesauce / Fruit Cups
  • Pop Top: Soup, Tuna, Chicken, Chef Boyardee
  • Mac & Cheese
  • PB&J / Cereal / Oatmeal

Let me know if you need anything or have any questions.  See you soon.

Blessings.

Andrew