Ryanne Molinari

I recently watched a truly outstanding church live-stream. The camerawork captured the lighting and staging so well that my first thought was, “There is no way the in-person experience is as good as this.” Even the music—notoriously tough to transmit online—was stellar. It was as clear through the speakers of my TV as it would have been in-person. It might even have been better, for I was able to adjust the volume to suit my sensitive ears.

Praise God for excellent church live-streams. I personally know devoted Christians whose health prevents them from regular in-person worship. Live-streaming services is a way of serving these physically weaker believers, and excellent live-streams even more so. When we put care into our live-streams, we remind home-bound members that we care about their worship engagement. We will not simply send them half-baked videos out of duty, but will work to provide them with the best possible alternative to in-person attendance.

My concern, thus, is not for Christians who faithfully tune into live-stream services because this is the safest option for their embodiment. My concern is for those who opt for live-streams because it provides them with the smoothest experience.

A well done live-stream will always be more convenient than setting an alarm, digging a dress out of the closet, wrangling children into the car, and driving across town on only half a cup of coffee. Even poor live-streams will prove less aggravating than searching for parking when you’re already late, sitting next to someone whose watch keeps beeping, trying to tune to the worship leader in the front instead of the crying babies in the back, and trying to take notes on the sermon while sharing too-small a space with your left-handed spouse.

It’s pretty obvious that I’m speaking from experience.

If you’re looking for a hassle-free experience, Facebook Bible Church or First Church of YouTube will win out over your local church every time. If you continually choose to tune in rather than attend, you may even congratulate yourself on avoiding the worst parts of church. But in reality, those “worst” parts are exactly why you need to be there.

Sure, if you watch from home, you get to finish your coffee in peace and can stay in your pajamas with your spouse, but what about partaking of the Lord’s supper—physical bread and wine—together with your church family? You may save a bit on gas and stress, but what about learning to expend yourself for a higher calling? You may avoid the annoying sounds (and smells) of in-person gatherings, but are you growing in selflessness and charity? You are comfortable, but are you really content? Don’t you ever feel like maybe—just maybe—you’re missing out on something profound?

In Digital Liturgies: Rediscovering Christian Wisdom in an Online Age, Samuel James writes:

“We have become exceedingly good at replacing human beings with technology. But even as our performance at work and media intake have kept apace, our spirits have not. We need people. We need presence. We need place.

To actively resist the dehumanization of digital technology, we have to do something simple yet often difficult: we must gather.”¹

James goes on to explain that for Christians, the most important gathering is that of the local church. There, Jesus himself promises to be present: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20 KJV). When we gather as the local church, we are developed more and more into the likeness of Christ, and we draw near to him as we draw together with his Body.

This process of growing more like Christ and closer to his people is not easy. It means leaving our living rooms, exchanging sofas for pews and our TVs for pulpits. (Horror of horrors, it may mean missing out on a luxurious cup of homemade coffee in favor of the sanctifyingly disgusting Church Foyer Folgers.^©) Most significantly, we must exchange control for submission and immediacy for patience. James continues:

“We can’t just mute or unfollow a fellow church member who irritates us. We must learn civil, sacrificial love. We can’t fast-forward through a convicting message we are sitting in. We must allow the word to cut us open so it can put us back together again. Church is gospel givenness.²

Maybe it’s because I’m sore from running this morning, but I do believe attending church in-person is a lot like working out. If my goal is to know facts about the human body, I can learn them by watching YouTube videos while eating banana bread. But if my goal is to steward and strengthen my body, I need to get uncomfortable. I’ll have to endure ragged breathing and aching muscles. I’ll have to plan extra time each morning to accommodate a run or lift.

So ask yourself: What is your goal when it comes to church? Are you simply wanting to gather head knowledge and appease your sense of duty? In that case, you might as well keep streaming the sermon from your couch and fast-forwarding through the rest of the service. You can remain comfortable and, most likely, unchanged.

Or are you looking for something more? Are you eager to know and grow into Christ who is your Head? (Ephesians 4:15). This by far the better option, but it will require you to embrace the growing pains of regular in-person worship. It will demand something of your time and resources. It will test your patience. But as with running, at some point a switch will flip and instead of dragging yourself to the trail, you will find yourself eager for movement and endorphins. Stay the course, and you will find yourself craving Christian engagement far more than any online experience.

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1. Samuel D. James, Digital Liturgies: Rediscovering Christian Wisdom in an Online Age (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2025), 175.75 ↩︎
2. James, Digital Liturgies, 175. ↩︎