So...Something Happened... BAM!

So, I'm randomly surfing the blogosphere (sort of) and I come across this:
http://nanolog.blogspot.com/2006/11/restaurant-or-cookery-show.html

This guy says he went to church for the first time in years and he really connected with the message and when the service was over...he felt like he wanted to stay connected...to talk about what happened, what he heard, what he was feeling...but the service was over. I can just see it - the lights go up, the people begin to leave...it's done.

He says that he used to look at church like a restaurant - but it's more like a cooking show ("kick it up another notch...BAM!"). In a restaurant, you are immersed in the experience and it is a shared experience and you connect with those around you. In a cooking show - the product may be fantastic - but you're an outsider observing. You're not part of the experience.

That's an image I'm holding on to - I want church to be like a restaurant. Hold the table as long as you want, order a second dessert, talk to the people around you about what a wonderful meal you are having, immerse yourself in the experience, in the fellowship, in all that is going on around you...

God, let church NEVER be a show...