Early in the video, when he was setting it up as a stage with a performer/audience dynamic, I get where he's coming from, but I couldn't fully buy into the analogy, because it's also a teacher/student dynamic (just compare to a lecture hall, rather than a theater). And that's a dynamic we actually do see all over in scripture, from Christ's sermons to the masses, to Peter's preaching to the multitude on Pentecost, to Paul's addressing Jews and Greeks in synagogues and markets throughout Asia Minor and Greece.
Upon further reflection, though, it struck me that many of these cases were preaching towards mostly unbelieving crowds (though in many cases, made up of religiously interested individuals). So maybe the church format has some aspects that are better geared towards external evangelism than internal fellowship, discipleship, and edification? (I need a thoughtful chin-stroking smiley here).
Both models are seen in scripture, but perhaps we mix the two poorly. We mostly assume that we have the saved audience of an assembly, but then we often treat them using the dynamics of missions outreach?
