God is on the couch

Post Author: Lydia Posselt

Back in October 2021, a post floated around social media professing that “you can’t worship from your couch.” The post generated a mild sensation among pastors who serve churches taking full advantage of online ways to be “church.” Fast forward to the present, and yet again the internet is buzzing with a similar dismissal of the online Body of Christ, this time in the form of an ableist and dismissive opinion piece from the New York Times. In this article, already limited in its accessibility behind a paywall, the pastor claims that with the pandemic being “managed” with masks, distancing, and a milder variant, all churches should stop online options to focus primarily back on physical gatherings. We have yet another iteration of the “you can’t worship from the couch” fallacy.

I shared my thoughts in October, and these words seem just as relevant now: As church attendance again becomes a hot topic in our nation and online services have become a vital part of finally including underserved people, let’s remember why community is important in the many forms it can take.

You may not be able to pack meals from your couch if you struggle with a chronic illness, but you can sing and pray while worship is streaming. You can be surrounded by your community of faith if you are unable to get out of bed that day. You can experience the power of God’s presence. You can experience Christian community, even if you aren’t able to be with everyone together every Sunday because the children are vomiting all over the couch, your anxiety or depression are keeping you to your couch, or your autistic child is having a hard day and the couch is a safe place for them.

Christians need community, and community comes in many forms. We can contribute letters and cards and Facebook posts and prayer requests and email encouragement and tithe from literally anywhere now. We can serve, sacrifice, encourage, pray, and do life together both online and in person. And actually, many of us have been doing it for years already. Online options are here to stay. They are a blessing from God.

To those who have been pushed aside by the very community that claims “all are welcome”: the church needs you, but if the church doesn’t recognize your needs, we don’t deserve you. The last thing you need is to be guilted by another group in your life. The last thing you need is to have your reality ignored by a church that doesn’t actually live out its call of welcome and care.

We can’t be all things to all people. But our call as communities of faith is to do what Jesus did – meet and love people where they are, in all the miraculous ways we can be embodied together, however we can. The church is not four walls, worn out carpet, and a wonky elevator. The church is not active for only one hour per week. The church is on the internet, on your couch, and sometimes even in pajamas, at all hours of the day and night. Lord, forgive us the audacity to put such limitations on you!

If it happens that the New York Times does not renounce or at least allow a rebuttal to the above-mentioned article, may I be so bold as to suggest some future answers to Wordle, the famous 5-letter word game they recently acquired. I, among others, have noticed some words that seem to be lacking, such as: world, agape, boost, links, pivot, and unite. I share these words knowing that so many communities of faith are, miraculously, getting this online thing right. We see you, and we affirm you. Keep doing what you’re doing.