Whoville vs Whatville

For so long we have thought of the church as a what. The building, the systems, the programs, the paid staff and so on. Of course, most of us remember the little rhyme that went, "Here's the building, here's the steeple, open the doors and here are the people (you did this little ditty with your hands...someone back me up on this)." As many times as you have heard, "The church is not the building, it is the people", we have still continued to model church as if it was the building. We continue to build million dollar boxes in hopes that people will show up on our doorsteps. We must stop thinking like we are living in "Whatville" and start thinking like we are in "Whoville." Thinking this way is difficult. It requires more work. It requires being uncomfortable. But the biggest change of thinking is that it requires us to meet people where they are. I love this quote from Reggie McNeal, "If we build great what's, we'll never get to great who's." If we continue to think that the church staff are the only ministers around, we will never realize that God has charged every one of us with being a minister. Whoville vs Whatville...I think Whoville wins every time.