Today, I am hanging out on North Post Oak in Houston. I am getting ready to go my first ever design class for vehicle wrapping. Maybe I'll learn how to turn my 2001 Buick Park Avenue into a hip and cool pimped out machine. I left the house extra early because my car has an issue right now that a wrap won't fix. It's something internal. Because of that, I needed to allow plenty of time and I needed to drive where I could keep my speed up as much as possible. Enough of that, but if you have a light going off in your head right now concerning my problem, please let me know.
I'm hanging at Starbucks. There are several things I like about coming to Starbucks. I've never been to this one, but it feels like I have. It's a very personal place. I walked in and they told me hello. They had my personal selection of favorite drinks to choose from, and even the same comfy chair I'm used to back home. No matter where I am, if I walk into a Starbucks, I feel a little more like I'm at home.
It's obvious why this is the case. It's the same whether I'm eating at McDonald's in Mexico City, or shopping at Target in Southern California. A Chick-fil-A sandwich tastes the same in Chicago as it does in League City, and a Q-doba burrito is a food of greatness in Charlotte, Minneapolis or Fort Worth. Chain restaurants and other establishments are comfortable. They may not all be expensive, but are they costing us more than money?
At first glance, I am grateful for the familiarity of a Starbucks this morning, but honestly, I would have much preferred a more local flavor - you know, the sort of Cowamunga's Coffee shop in Grapevine, or the Manhattan in Snyder, Texas. These types of places let me into the place where I am. I want to struggle with the culture and the location where I am, so that in the end I can rejoice with it as well. I don't want to spend money on a great vacation only to come home feeling like I never really left. I am one of those people, who while on vacation, will not eat at any restaurant that I can eat at back home. This was much easier before we had kids, by the way.
One of the things I have learned this past year is that people do the same thing with churches. We want the familiar. We want the comfortable. Not for the wrong reasons, either. I often hear transplants say they are looking for a church "like the one back home." I am not bagging on them for that. I get it. The sad thing is not our search for the familiar, but the church's all-too-often inability to provide something unique. We seem to provide franchise churches well because the market will bear it up. But my question is "Is this best for the Church?" I am not proposing that every church go out and recreate the wheel, but I do believe that every church has a unique thumbprint to make on their community. A couple of months ago, I was asked by a local reporter why we have chosen to do things so differently at The Springs. I explained that if God has really called a dozen churches to our community then we have one of two options. We must each play our own unique instrument or we should all gather under one roof. I'm not 100% convinced that gathering under one roof would be a bad idea. We have chosen to be different because we have other churches who are not. Our friends at Clear Creek are experiencing great things and they started a campus in our back yard. The music is great, the teaching is great, the kids' programs are great. We could do a smaller version of that. However, we would just be drawing water from the same well. We have committed ourselves to being a different kind of church - where pastors aren't "pastors" and church is not "church." It's not the easiest road to travel, but intuitively, it's the right road for us.
If you are looking for a church, like the one back home, you will probably not be satisfied with us, and that is okay. We have enough relationships with other churches in our area, that we could probably help you find the one for which you are looking. If, however, you are searching for something different...or maybe not searching for a church at all, come meet our friends. We love Jesus and are committed to being more like Him and less like other Christians everywhere. Sometimes, we swing and miss, and other times we hit it squarely, but we are real and honest and we really would love to meet you.
Gotta get to that wrapping class, now! Ciao!
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4 comments:
“We love Jesus and are committed to being more like Him and less like other Christians everywhere.”
What a shame. Isn’t this just denominationalism under another guise? How about just: we are committed to knowing the One True God, and to being more like Christ in every way. What a huge judgmental DIS to The Church. Don’t forget God is not only outside the box, he is within it as well.
It may not be your intention, but based on what came before it, it seems that you are having an identity problem, not necessarily the Church (uppercase C intended). If the gospel is true, then as we are committed to giving ourselves over to God (knowing Him and being Spirit controlled/led, I die daily) and being more like Christ, the Church will have a similar look and feel no matter where we are as we become like Christ: more ‘love, joy, peace, patience, etc…’ The uniqueness isn’t about how you do church (small c intended), but about how we respond to others, either Spirit-filled/led, or not. That’s the uniqueness that differentiates us from the World, not the distinction of “we are not like them”. What a poor representation of the Church.
Whether you realize it or not, you are part of the body of Christ, The Church. And low and behold, it is everywhere and in many different formats! Isn’t another term for it “the Family of God?” And while there is individual uniqueness, shouldn’t we be identified by the same inherent characteristics, IE the fruits of the Spirit, regardless of how we do church? Christ was not unique because he marketed himself that way, but he is unique because of who he is. He needed nothing else.
It’s not about what we do so much as it is about whether or not we are in relationship with the Father. The 'doing' comes out of relationship: Abide in me, and I in you and you will bear much fruit. You can be unique in all kinds of ways that mean nothing as far as the gospel goes. "Except you abide in me, you can’t do anything of yourself."
I was going to make a snazzy comment about how your car needs a wrap, then I almost hit you in the Wal Mart parking lot today, and seriously- you need a wrap to jazz up that car. If it weren't so blah, I might have seen you sooner than 1/10 of a second before I slammed on the brakes!!!
Anonymous, My apologies for taking so long to respond to your comment. I've been a bit swamped and didn't just want to give you an off-the-cuff response. So here you go.
First, while I admit that I have issues with many expressions of the local church, I have no issue with the Church, universal. I believe this Church is the primary way God chooses to accomplish His purposes in our world. I agree with you that the Church is found in churches everywhere. People are choosing to live more like Jesus and that's wonderful. However, the evidence is overwhelming that Christians, as a whole, act a lot less like Jesus and more like each other. If you don't buy it from me, go to www.unchristian.com and see for yourself.
My description of how "we are not like them" was in response to a question posed to me: Why are you guys so different than the other churches? Our values as a church are not bullet points of how "we are not like them." We don't sit around discussing this. I was asked a question, so I answered it. While sitting in Starbucks, I had some thoughts about churches, so I let you into those thoughts.
The point I was making was in regards to method, not to mission. While each of the churches in our area share a common mission - to love God with everything we are and to love our neighbors as ourselves, not all of us utilize the same methods to accomplish the mission. Our goal ought to be how can we think, act and become more like Jesus, not how can we look more like Church A or Church B. Right?
You said nothing in your rebuttal of my post that I disagree with, but the underlying assumptions you made about me are false. When someone posts anonymously, I assume one of two things: they either live in my circle and don't want me to know it's them posting, or they don't know me at all and for some reason think that "anonymous" allows them the chance to spew a little. In either case, identifying yourself would have been nice and courteous. It's a bit humorous to have "Anonymous" question whether or not I have an identity problem. Feel free to offer another option, if there is one.
In any case, I am glad that the words on my site, prompted a feeling strong enough on the inside of you to write. I honestly feel that if we were to sit at one of the said Starbucks and share conversation over coffee, you and I could be friends. So, if you are local, let me know and we can have some conversation.
Miss you guys.
Thought I would drop by and see what was shakin.
todd
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