Zorbing in Church

Melinda Nagy | Dreamstime.com

Sunday morning at Radiant we watched a video introduction to the third part of the sermon series. To illustrate The Journey Falters the video followed the seeker into the desert where rocks begin to rain down on his head. At that moment the pastor came running up the aisle with a huge “boulder” bearing down on him. It was a zorb, a giant inflatable ball painted to look like a boulder and propelled by a man inside; a bit of Cirque du Soleil in Sunday morning worship.

The pastor’s abzorbing message matched the zingy intro. It was Acts 4 and 5 where Ananias and Sapphira try to impress their early church friends with a pretense. They make a show of donating all the proceeds of a property sale when in fact they are holding back.  They pay for their lack of transparency with their lives.

The pastor’s points were that we falter when our motives aren’t pure, our methods are deceitful, we fail to communicate and we forget the big picture.

The early church had God’s blessing and expectation to be open-handed with those around them. Can you imagine the conversation Ananias and Sapphira must have had?

A.    Saph, we need to match the big givers if we’re going to be players in this new venture.
S.      Ananias, think what we could do with that money!
A.    I have an idea! We’ll give some of the money to the church and announce that we’re giving the entire proceeds. They’ll be impressed and we can still take that vacation you want. They’ll never know.

At that point Sapphira should have communicated to her husband what would have been in her heart if she’d been listening instead of lusting.

God will know.

When the pastor finished his run down the aisle, he turned and faced the zorb. He danced to one side and then the other and the ball mirrored his movements. Only then did we look through the camouflage and see that there was a man inside directing the ball’s movement.

It’s a good message for those of us who use social media. In our efforts to impress our friends and tweeps we have to continually evaluate our motives, be clear about our intent and keep in mind who we are serving with our communication.

Sadly, we will miss the series finale. It’s time to head home.