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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