Coffee and Church

Tuesday, I went to Augusta for work. It was a relatively uneventful trip...lots of road, lots of singing to myself and of course my usual coffee stops. I stopped the first time at Dunkin Donuts. Feeling the brisk morning and the beautiful fall leaves put me in the mood for a nice pumpkin flavored iced coffee. It was delicious. I drove another hundred miles or so, singing everything from Kirk Franklin to Katy Perry. Somewhere between "Smile" and "Roar" I realized that I was now sipping on a cup with nothing but cubes and a straw....time for a refill. This time I was near a Starbucks. I went through the drive-thru and ordered another pumpkin flavored iced coffee. Then I merrily headed back to the interstate and headed towards my destination. I picked up my coffee, sucked it thru the straw and it was...disgusting. I mean putrid. In my usual analytic way, I thought maybe my taste buds were on a break, so I tasted the coffee again. "Gah....ugh....grose" this coffee was definitely nasty. I thought how strange it was that the coffee with the flavoring from one proprietor could be so different tasting at another shop. Then my wheels started turning...in my mind. I began to think about our churches today....just hang on, I promise this will make sense. In a recent conversation with a dear friend of mine, we were heckling each other over our churches. She attends a very conservative Independent Baptist Church. They have a great choir accompanied by an outstanding pianist and organist. Sunday School comes before morning worship...and there is only one service. They wear very traditional church clothes, dresses, suits and ties. The special singer does not use a taped soundtrack, but rather utilizes the church pianist. Their sanctuary is well lit with stained glass windows going down the sides of the auditorium. They have comfortable pews to sit in with green church hymnals tucked in the back for the song service. It truly is a beautiful place. My church.....well....it's a little different. For starters, clothing is optional....let me rephrase that....clothing style is optional (clothes are required). We are a "come as you are, wear what you have" type of church. Our platform has a drum set, a couple guitars, a bass and two keyboards. Our church has enough lights to do justice to Les Miserables in a fine theatre. If the lights aren't on, it's pitch black....not one window. We don't have Sunday School, and we do have two morning services. We have no hymnals, but rather a large screen with the words for the worship service...oh, and we are Southern Baptist. (I'm relatively confident those last two words are going to make my friend's list a little shorter....but that's ok) There is one thing that our churches have in common...Jesus. While our styles may be polar opposites, our God is the same. My friend and I pray regularly for each other and are very in tune with each others struggles...we hold each other accountable. We love the same Lord, serve the same Master. We banter back and forth about our church styles...but our doctrine is the same. She loves to call me a compromiser and I enjoy calling her a legalist...but it's just in fun. I think it is sad to see one church condemning another based on it's screens and special effects...as if Jesus cares about lighting. I think it is unfortunate to see contemporary churches condemning conservative churches because they are deemed cold or uncaring...as if God's love can't be felt in a well lit area. The fact of the matter is that so many of our churches spend more time pointing at each others faults than they do pointing people to Jesus. Regardless, if you are a Dunkin Donuts fan or a Starbucks connoisseur....it's all coffee. If you attend a sacred service or a contemporary....it's all Jesus. The fact of the matter is people need Him...whether it's by an orange straw or a green one.