“The Burger King Church”
I remember as a kid when Burger King came to town, it was pretty cool; they offered things much different than McDonald's across the street. I can remember one of the early jingles Burger King had. “Have it your way at Burger King”. It was a different concept for fast food restaurants at that time. You could actually go in and order your burger the way you wanted it; and for me as a kid that was pretty cool. I hated pickles and hated taking the time to lift up the bun and then scraping off the ketchup mustard and onion from those nasty pickles as not to lose any of the good stuff. So when Burger King introduced the idea of being able to order it the way you liked it was a huge hit for me. “Hold the pickles please!”…Just the way I like it, made to order.
I wonder if this kind of mentality has crept into the life of the church. “Have it your way” where the church is all about you. We want services that make us feel good or it’s no good, made to order. Not too convicting and certainly not to long. We want the preacher to act a certain way and preach sermons we like, and the songs have to be just the way we want them. Really the list could go on but I think you get the point. So I wonder when the church became a hotel for the saints. You know where you come in and have it your way; where you get your pillow fluffed and a nice mint on your bed; the service is catered around you? Well that’s not the church at all. You have certainly heard the phrase many times already but it is so true…”It’s not about you!”… What is it really all about then? It is all about Him and Them…Knowing Him more deeply, worshiping Him and growing in His grace and then taking what we have gleaned from our relationship with God the Father and making Him known in our world. When the focus is on us, we become less productive in Kingdom work…But when we understand that and place things in the right perspective by placing the focus on Him and not us, we then grasp His heartbeat and His agenda and see the real needs around us; a world of people lost and dying in their sin. While many in the church want to have it their way, many are missing the only way….Jesus.
Do you have a Burger King church mentality?
Pastor Bill
Amen!
ReplyDeleteI just received a letter a few days ago from my DOM that stated he was reading a book that centered around this christian, and this athist who went to various churches with diffrent styles. The christian would ask what was wrong with the church...and From what my DOM said the athisit stated somethings that were from his point of view not overly criticule but were of some value.
I had a problem reading that, One because I would hope that my DOM dose not think that the church is to be for the Athisit..but two because I don't care what someone who does not even beilive in God has to say about Gods House.
Since when was the church meant to be a place to evangilize? No Where in the bible will you find that the church was meant for the lost.
Now people do get saved in church (hopefully), it is a place where someone can hear the gospel preached (agian hopefully). Evangilisim has always been out side of the church. Christians are called out to reach the lost in the community. Yet many christians have this Come and see mentality rather than the "Go and Tell"...We are all called to preach the Gospel to a lost and dieing Generation. Church is primarily for God and God alone, it should be a time where Christians who have been in the world telling others about Jesus Christ, can go to get recharged, and to Give God the Glory of the Great things they have seen in the past week. Yet few of us do because we are more about going to church rather than being the church.
Church is Gods house ment for Gods people. The bible is Gods word meant for Gods People.
Can God use the church to reach the lost absolutly!...but is that its purpose...no
Can God use the Bible to reach the lost Absolutly!...but is it writen for the lost...no it is a book to the christians. When a unsaved person reads the bible, if the Holy Spirit does not illuminate that person's heart they can not understand the Word of God...and only a person who has truly been born agian can see the truthes in the word of God.