Walt Disney theme parks pitch themselves as “the happiest place on earth”. They say, “It’s an enclosed environment where people trust they are safe wherever they are in the park.” Walt Disney’s original prospectus for DisneyLand shows his vision:
“The idea of Disneyland is a simple one. It will be a place for people to find happiness and knowledge: A place for pupils to discover greater ways of understanding and education. Here the older generation can recapture the nostalgia of days gone by, and the younger generation can savor the challenge of the future. Here will be the wonders of Nature and Man for all to see and understand.”
I think it is fair to say Walt Disney realized his vision. I have a friend who lives in Georgia. He’s intentional about his public persona, along with being a professional and astute businessman. Overall he is a pretty serious person. However, he loves Disney so much he has season passes for his whole family of 6! That is not a small investment. His family says the minute they step into Disney everything changes. It’s like he’s a different person. He’s carefree, spontaneous, and all about fun.
When I think of Walt Disney’s original vision, I can’t help but wonder how the Church might learn a few lessons from Disney. In fact that would not be an original idea for the Church. What if my friend had the same transformation when he walks into Church that he has at Disney? Wasn’t God’s original intent for the Church to be a safe place for people to thrive? Scriptures are full of examples, but one such example can be found in Joel:
“Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. Joel 2:28 NLT.
I’m not suggesting the Church should become an attraction or even a destination of “fun”; but too often the Church takes itself too seriously. We seem to have convinced ourselves that if it’s fun, we are somehow not fulfilling our purpose. We can become anxious and guarded-seemingly afraid our “safe sanctuary” will be violated. The result is people outside of the Church see us as boring and unsafe-the opposite of fun and safe. More often than not, they see the Church as aggressive and “too involved in politics.” The Church can stand its ground by modeling “The Way of Jesus.” History reminds us the Church does not have a good reputation when it decides to enter the culture wars. We tend to force people to “convert at the point of a sword.”
Disney World exists to gather people together and entertain them. It provides a place where people can enjoy themselves. When the Church is fulfilling its purpose, the people are missional. The Church is more than an attraction. We are more than a religious center. We exist for a bigger purpose than to simply gather a crowd. We are more than a hospital for the sick and wounded. When the Church is at its best, we provide safe communities where people can catch a glimpse of “earth as it is in Heaven.” A place where we are all in one accord. A place where Christ reigns at the right hand of the Father and the politics of empires and humans are mute. When the Church is missional, it is much more than the experience of a few days of entertainment at Disney and then the let down of the return home.
Perhaps Walt Disney’s Inspiration was an echo of the Kingdom of God albeit secular? Disney stated:
”Whatever success I have had in bringing clean, informative entertainment to people of all ages, I attribute in great part to my Congregational upbringing and my lifelong habit of prayer. To me, today, at age sixty-one, all prayer, by the humble or highly placed, has one thing in common: supplication for strength and inspiration to carry on the best human impulses which should bind us together for a better world.”
Our lives as disciples should become the attraction. The Church should be a safe place where prayer, by the “humble and highly placed, has one thing in common: supplication for strength and inspiration to carry on the best human impulses which should bind us together for a better world today not just a place we go someday. If this remains true, the Church would become larger than the happiest place on earth and better-more meaningful than any entertainment Disney could muster.