The Netflix-ization of the Church

In thinking about the future of the church, it might be helpful to draw a loose correlation between church attendance and media (film and television) consumption. There’s a segment of church-goers that might be defined as blockbuster attendees that only darken the doors on Easter and Christmas. A large segment of theater-goers only buy tickets for the biggest releases, so industry insiders speak of the necessity of “eventizing” theatrical releases to draw bigger audiences. People don’t go to see a film for the story as much as they do to participate in an event. Nothing feels more like an event than the recent Jurassic World release or the upcoming Star Wars sequel (hurry up already!). Everyone’s going and everyone’s talking about it. Ok, not everyone, but loads of people. Same with Christmas and Easter. You can’t look like you’re the only person in your Twitter feed not wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.