The Church of Disney

In the Animal Kingdom, June 2014

I just returned from two weeks in Central Florida, part of which was for a Nationals Dance Competition, and part of which we spent at Walt Disney World (WDW). Even when on vacation, I'm always looking for lessons and ideas that relate back to the church, and it once again struck me that the church could learn several things from WDW. (Of course, one of the questions I always have is how people will pay lots and lots of money to go to WDW and then plop $5 in the offering plate at church...but I digress...)

Here are some thoughts I've had as I reflected on our time at WDW and how those things relate to the church...

First of all, greet everyone with a wave and a genuinely friendly smile.

No one, with the possible except of Chick-fil-a, does hospitality better than WDW. Cast members are trained to wave, smile and greet every guest that crosses their path, to be genuine and to be friendly. From the bus drivers to the food service workers to the ride attendants to the characters, we were greeted repeatedly. And they're willing to engage in conversation. I had a great time reading people's nametags to find out where they were from, and often we could strike up a conversation based just on location. We met some folks from Indiana and from other places we have lived or traveled.

Too often in the church, though, we hunker down with the folks whom we know, rather than greeting everyone, especially guests, with a genuinely friendly smile and conversation. It's not about who you know. It's about those who come because they want to know Jesus, and they want to see Jesus in you. They want to be welcomed by you.

Expect crowds.

WDW expects crowds. Every day. Since they opened in 1971, they have always expected crowds and they continue to find and create ways to handle the crowds. I noticed this trip there were better methods and ways of moving people along, especially as we were trying to get out of the Magic Kingdom about the time the fireworks were to be set off. There was room enough for all.

Do we expect guests, visitors each and every week at church? Are we ready for crowds? Too often we set our expectations way too low, and when we don't expect people to come, they won't. Dream big dreams. Make big plans. And trust God to lead.

Give people something to do.

One of the days during the dance competition we had a free day so we took Christopher to the Harry Potter land at Universal Islands of Adventure. And he had a great time in that area. But when we left Hogwarts, we found there was very little to do. It's like Universal knew that is the big draw and invested all of their resources in that area. Our kids were too old for "Cat in the Hat," and Marvel Superhero land was rather disappointing. There were lots of shops and restaurants, but not a lot to do. We left by 7:00 or so.

At WDW, it's just the opposite, especially in the Magic Kingdom. There are always things to do, shows to see and attractions to experience. Not once did we find ourselves wondering, "Well, what to do next?" It was more about trying to figure out the timing of all the possibilities! (Love the new app, by the way, that gives you live wait times for each attraction.) When the crowd shows up, there is something to do.

When people show up at church and want to stay, want to get involved, is there anything for them to do? Or do we push them to the sidelines? Do we make it easy for them to get involved or do we tell them they have to achieve a certain level of "spirituality" before they can do anything? Is there anything for people to do, to be connected, to get involved?

It really is a small world after all!

We forced Rachel to go on the world's happiest cruise, where "that song" gets in your head and won't go away. "It's a Disney classic!" we told her. "You have to ride 'It's a Small World'!" She wasn't convinced, but she went anyway.

But even the larger experience of Disney reminds you it's a small world. I love walking the World Showcase at Epcot, where you can pass from country to country in a few minutes if you want (or if you have an ADHD son), or you can linger in one place for a while. Here are all these cultures, co-existing, side by side, learning from each other and working together.

In the church, even within the same culture, we often can't get along. We set up groups and fortresses and insist that we know the real way to practice Christian faith and everyone else is wrong and that turns to frustration and anger and bitterness and really long run-on sentences. But each one is actually our brother and sister in Christ, not an enemy, even if they believe differently about some things than we do. What was it John Wesley said? "If you heart beats as mine, give me your hand." There are essentials we do not compromise on, but even then, we seek to lovingly reach out and welcome and call "the other" to Jesus. It's a small world, and getting smaller, and that "other" person is not my enemy. He is a child of God. She is a child of God. Jesus said others would know we are his disciples not by how doctrinally correct we were, or by how "righteous" we are, but by the way we love one another.

Those are some of my thoughts. If you've been to WDW, what would you add to the list?

(In the next blog, I plan to discuss some things the church should NOT replicate from WDW.)