Our Church is a Sitcom

This is what the cover of the Season 1 DVD of the Gate could look like

All the great sitcoms are about really different people coming together. Spiritual Phoebe is friends with Scientist Ross. Postman Cliff is besties with No-job Norm, half-wit Woody and brainy Frasier. And the ultimate: Oscar and Felix ARE the Odd Couple. It is the misunderstandings, the crossed intentions, the social gaffes that make us laugh and ask for seconds. We come to love the people, despite their foibles and insecurities. They can almost feel like family.

I've often thought of my life as a story, some parts more drama, other parts more romance, still others tragedy. But most of it, the parts centered in relationships, are all sit-com. So it is that I believe if a movie or TV show were ever made of the Gate, it would be a comedy. At most a dramedy.

Case in point, last night, about twelve of us gathered to have a meal. We couldn't use the bar, due to it being booked, so we had a meal at our house. We did up the lighting and brought in tables, and we all gathered round for a prayer. Kristin and I and the Wellborns served everyone, and that's when it got funny.

Daniel commented, "I was expecting Peproni Rolls," when I informed him we had barbecue. Meant as a "Barbecue is so much better than what I was expecting," I called him ungrateful and told him to leave. The ball was rolling. Neil, one of our newer folks, made a comment, which then elicited a recurring punchline/slight inside joke from Jake and Chris, "It's fine if you like looking at naked men." (If you want to know this story, you have to come ask.) Katherine attempted to play a song we had been talking about, only to accidentally play the unedited version quite loudly. Wally learned, very publicly, what happens when you offend your pregnant wife. Crissy also demonstrated her mean look. Kristin kept forgetting what she was going to the kitchen for. Jessica informed us of some funny You Tube clips she had seen and also provided an awesome cobbler, which wasn't funny, but bears mentioning.

I sat and listened as stories were told, and laughter abounded. Each of our individual faux pas and humorous anecdotes driving the laughter louder and longer. The longer the night went on, the more I realized I was witnessing something special.

Outside of the prayer, there was nothing spiritual about the night, but there was something sacred. Our lives were blending. I remember an Interpersonal Communication class from college that said "stories are how relationships are built and maintained." If that is the case, our relationships are quite funny. What was great about last night was not that we laughed so much, or even that we enjoyed each other so much, it was that it was not a one time thing. It was a usual camaraderie in a new setting. What was sacred was that we were being the Church. It was not a program, or prefabricated schedule, it was each of us being real, being open enough to allow ourselves to be laughed at and with. It felt more like a family gathering than a stoic church service.

Isn't that what the Church is supposed to be, anyway? A Family? Sure, we need to have those deep, serious talks, but we also need to feel a connectedness to each other. That can come through a shared laugh just as easily as a shared tragedy or lesson. In fact, most people who are outside a group want in it if it appears to be a group they want to share their lives with.

That's why Friends and Cheers, or the Big Bang Theory are hit shows- we want to share our lives with them because they seem like fun people. They make us laugh, and we think we could make them laugh if had the chance. We have our own Chandlers, Norms, and Sheldons in our church, and you know what, I want to laugh with them.

And in the Sacred of growing together through shared laughter, the Spiritual of connecting to God as a Body becomes possible.