Holographic Pastors
The Need To Return To Shepherding
I serve in a rural area. Driving long distances for medical care is not unusual for those I pastor. Technology has undoubtedly changed the dynamic of this, but one cancer clinic in Tennessee has taken this to a whole new level. According to a Wall Street Journal article, patients can now see a holographic doctor. "The setup works like this: Doctors are beamed from a small production studio in the Germantown clinic and appear in life-size boxes in designated exam rooms at the satellite clinics. The boxes are fronted with a flat, clear 4K LCD screen, and a specialized lighting setup inside gives the flat image an appearance of three-dimensionality."
What the article said next captured my attention: "Patients, however, aren’t being projected as holograms to the doctors. In the clinics, they communicate via camera—an intentional choice, Richey said, to give the patient, rather than the doctor, the more realistic experience. ‘I can see the patient well enough to recognize a rash or a lump or a problem. I can’t feel everything. But oftentimes, that’s all we need,’ Richey said."
The doctor can see, but cannot feel.
In a day of multi-campuses, video projection, and holographic pastors,* I want to sound the alarm - You Cannot Pastor By Hologram!
Yes, I know we use phones, text, chat, email, videoconferencing, and the like to connect with our people. I use some of these tools, too. But they are occasionally used and do not entirely replace the one-on-one connection that happens when we are both (physically) in the same room at the same time, where you have a real pastor ministering to real members.
Pastoring is more than preaching! I'm afraid this has gotten lost somewhere. You cannot disappear all but one hour on Sunday and truly shepherd the people God has entrusted to you. While I would love to "beam" myself to Charlotte for that hospital visit, I'm going to have to drive an hour both ways, instead. I can't hold their hand and pray if I'm in a 4K LCD box!
We're called to be shepherds not holograms.
That takes time, a lot of time.
And it takes presence.