Up In The Air and the Church

This post will contain some spoilers, so if you are really interested in seeing the movie, see it first then come back and read this post, I don’t have much readership so it won’t matter much anyway

Up In Air is about a guy who works for a firm who lays-off people for companies who are scared to do it. It is a heart wrenching movie. I mean really heart wrenching, it almost works as a documentary when they are firing people, it looks real, natural and scares the heck out of me, who one day will most likely get the dreaded call into an office when I am 50, with college tuition a mortgage, car note and health care needs (unless Obama and the crew make a compromise LOL) and someone will tell me that I have been downsized and it could be as devastating as hearing you have incurable cancer.

Anyway so the movie follows George Clooney and he goes from place to place firing people, giving them pep talks, finding ways to console them and help them through the process without ever making an emotional connection. He also is a speaker whose trademark is “backpack language” saying we must empty the load if we really want to get ahead, so detach from people, places and things in order to have real freedom.

Well he meets a girl who is young and life hasn’t yet defiled. She is an idealist, a romantic at heart and she is entering the industry, which is a huge mistake, the two don’t go together. You can’t have a heart in this industry and it proves to take its toll on her early on in the process. Oh, yeah I forgot to mention that Clooney himself is detached from his life. He travels 360 days a year, is a few thousands miles from the highly coveted 10 Million mile club, stays in a one bedroom apartment, with no dishes, not furniture and a neighbor who he has used in the process, one who seems to like him but understands he won’t commit to anyone or anything.

So anyway he meets a girl and begins to fall for her, goes to a wedding, and the constant bug in his ear from his young and idealistic coworker makes him think that he can settle down. All of the detachment all of the business with no one, all of the crowds yet being alone has gotten to him. I will stop there

Anyway there are a few things that made me think of church. The young lady once asked him about being alone, he says “I am never alone look at all of these people” and she asks about dying alone and he says “everyone dies alone”, there were a few other things that stood out but I won’t quote them here. But I often wonder how this works at church. The overarching definition of a church is family and the overarching them of humanity is family. If we refuse our calling of family we will cease to exist though Mr. Clooney feels that it is this very tied downess that prevents us and ultimately he says “whatever isn’t moving is dying”.

Anyway Sunday after Sunday I wonder how many of us are up in the air. Much like Clooney we have better relationships with our pews, with the voice of our pastors, with the pulpit, with the building and with the time we meet, than those we actually meet with. I wonder how many people our proud that they have been going to the same church for 20 years, have had the same pastor for 10, have been sitting in the same seat for 5 yet have no inclination that they have no idea about the person they sit next to.

I also wonder how many people actually protect their anonymity as if that is okay. How many people don’t want to get bogged down the the struggles, tears and complexity that comes along with relationships and would rather be intimate with inanimate objects? I wonder how many pastors come Sunday after Sunday, detached from the people but in love with the pulpit and pews that occupy his space, how many empty faces he see yet full chairs? Waiting for the next opportunity? Willing to leave when more money and exposure or a better location opens up? How many of us are crowded yet invisible? We sit next to nameless, faceless, people only to secure our freedom and anonymity, not knowing that Jesus has called us to the exact opposite?

I wonder how many churches are really up in air? Smiling at the bottom line after revenues minus cost are in the green so we can expand both lines hoping the top is always bigger than the bottom? How many churches operate like airplanes? Getting as many in as possible to get the best economy of scales? And I wonder how many seminaries are treading out such men and women? Visionaries yet blind? I don’t know, but I tell you what, I remember many of times being in church and feeling like I was in an airplane waiting for the stewardess to bring me some nuts and drink so I can get on with my life, engaging in flaky conversations obscuring the intimate stuff so that I don’t feel completely alone yet securing my anonymity. And I know some people do it Sunday after Sunday, I just pray that we change soon, it doesn’t seem like with the next mega church popping up offering extra leg space, softer pillows and more gadgets to help you enjoy your anonymity even better.