Bob left a comment on my second $Trillion post about a church who justified a $5,000 espresso machine with the line, “A church that honors excellence honors God.” So Bob, I considered your comment today, and here’s what I came up with. (I’m responding in a post instead of a comment so it doesn’t get missed.)
I decided that I really understand what this church is getting at, wishing to honour God with the best of everything. God has had a rough go of things so far, and he could really use a break. And naturally, we his people should give him one, with the best of everything. I mean, here’s a God who created a special garden, and left but one simple instruction for the two people he placed there… and they blew it. He then chose a people for himself who didn’t listen, didn’t cooperate, and failed to return his love. He decided to send Jesus to try and get through to them. Jesus was born in a stable amid an air of suspicion of impropriety. His parents were poor commoners, only being able to present the sacrifice of the poor when he was dedicated at the temple. When he was young, his earthly father apparently died, leaving Jesus to grow up probably associating with people of lower social standing. After all, as a guest at a wedding just before his “ministry” began, it seems the groom might not have been able to afford enough wine for his guests, and Jesus had to bail him out of a difficult situation. Then there are the disciples he had to work with, always seeming to be at least a step or two behind the program. When the people he sought to communicate with finally killed him, he had to be placed in a borrowed tomb.
Yes, I would say, “Nothing but the best” for God — after all he’s been through, he deserves it. Should Jesus come back to trod the soil of the earth again, incognito, I’m sure that on a Sunday morning at 11:00 you’ll find him in search of a church that serves a decent espresso.
Yes, sarcasm is a virtue. ;^)
Maynard,
Sarcasm or not, this is good stuff. Sometimes the truth, no matter how you say it (and you say it so well) is just too true, ain’t it? Thanks for some laughs and smiles this Sunday morning.
Maynard,
PS Not related to this post actually, but I clicked on one of your “unfinished reading” links, the “vineyard church emergent” one, and got a “404 not found.” Hmmm…. Just thought I would heads up you on that.
WTF? A church somehow justified five grand on a coffee pot?????
I was given this link because I don’t go to church, and somebody is trying to show “we’re not all bad!”
But info like that just reminds me why I stopped going in the first place…
What does “excellence,” mean, anyways? A church who honors top-quality products in their kitchens? I’m thinking…must be an awful big espresso machine to make enough mud for a church large enough to throw away five grand on the darn thing…
Michele, I’m with you.
Note for the record that I’m not completely comfortable with somebody pointing me out as an example of “not all bad” — I may have my moments, but those are the rare few where I’m “not all bad” and the rest of the time I wouldn’t want to vouch for. The only evidence I can offer you that the church isn’t all espresso-filled narcicists (or whatever derogatory slur you want to sling) is the fact that I and the vast majority of the churchy people who frequent this blog are appalled by that kind of wasteful behaviour. And yet we’re still on about Jesus, and about reinventing church. Where I’m at these days, I’m finding a lot of people who have no problem with Jesus but are fed up with church. They used to be related you know, but it seems like any sort of connection is getting harder to recognize.
Spend a bit of time on the blog here, you might find the post where I explain how if I had to stick it out in a traditional heirarchical church, I would have a crisis of faith… but by leaving, I only have a crisis of ecclesiology (which is what we nose-in-the-air types call the study of the church). Basically I reached the point where I was sold on Jesus, but I couldn’t stand his church… and this is after being in church leadership for around 15 years. Lo and behold, after I left the institutional church, I’ve found some great people online and off who want to reinvent church to look like the kind of thing Jesus talked about, instead of what we’re used to imagining when we say “church” nowadays.
Michelle, I do not hope you find a church you can live with. I do hope you find a group of people who like to talk about Jesus, about what he taught, and about what it means to live the kind of life he exemplified.
Michele, your outrage is justified. There was something wrong with the leadership of our church (I can say that because I was part of the leadership when this decision was made–I’m reformed now) but nothing wrong with the people or the God they serve. You already show the ability to discern the $#!% from the shinola–don’t let go of that. God ain’t $#!%.