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11.10.08 Pastor's Insights

Church is a cooking school, not a restaurant

It’s fun and enjoyable to eat at a favorite restaurant. The food tastes great and there’s a variety of choices. The atmosphere is pleasant and the staff friendly. It’s especially good at the end of a long day because someone else does all the work.

We have to remember not to expect our church to perform like a restaurant. In the restaurant model, we are served food we like not necessarily food we need. As “customers”, we get to choose what we’ll be eating.  We anticipate a good presentation and appearance of the food and the area.  We know that we can sit back and others will come to us. We expect the staff to do the work. If we don’t like things, we speak up. This structure works well in an actual restaurant. In church however, it’s counterproductive because it doesn’t help advance God’s purposes. It actually works against them.

Let’s view church as a cooking school instead. Here, we learn how to cook for others.

We know that in the process, sometimes we’ll have to eat things we don’t like. We agree to eat what we need not just what tastes good. In fact, we consume before we get there. We spend time with God and His Word outside of church.

The pastor is encouraged to hear from God as to what to teach us. We don’t tell him what to feed us. God appointed him. He’s not a hireling. We don’t expect to be entertained. It’s not the pastor’s job to keep us amused and interested. We come to learn how we can feed others.

We don’t wait for others to reach out to us. Instead, we get up and reach out to others. We don’t expect to be served. We come to serve. When we don’t like things, we don’t complain. We ask God to work it out. God has picked that church for us so we’re committed to stay.

What a difference in perspectives! God, help us to see church not as a restaurant where we’re served our favorite meal but rather as a cooking school where we learn how to share Your love with others.

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