I haven’t done a blog post in a while and two things occurred to me during this blogless time. The first was that no one seemed to notice which is kind of humbling. I’ve not received a single text, tweet, email, Facebook post, Instagram thing, whatever it is Instagram people do to communicate, voicemail, nothing. Not even a letter via snail mail expressing a desire for a new blog post. Oh well.
The second thing is that these days my life doesn’t provide a lot of time for blog writing. For those of you who may not know, I serve as the full-time Care and Counseling Pastor at my church. That keeps me busy. Then, there’s leading the One Step Ministry. That places a big demand on my time as well.
On top of that, because I’m a Christian pastor who at one time was an alcoholic who was saved by Jesus Christ and who has come to be blessed in unimaginable ways, I feel the need to join the approximately one billion other Christian pastors who have written books about this very same journey. It’s on my “To Do” list for sure.
And another thing has entered my life that requires as much time as I can possibly commit to it. My daughter and her husband have blessed me and my wife with a grandson! But not just any grandson…the most handsome and best grandson ever.
There’s just a lot going on…
Which is why, a couple of weeks ago when I read the now famous – or infamous – tweet Pastor John Piper put out rebuking those who sip coffee in the sanctuary while the pastor’s preaching on Sunday I knew that if I ever wrote another blog, it would be about this.
So…John Piper. Brilliant theologian, pastor, and author. Sometimes comes across as a little grouchy but overall, he’s someone I both respect and admire. I love his writings and I’m on the same page with him on most issues. But sadly, he lost me on this one.
Here’s what he tweeted for those who may have missed it…
Can we reassess whether Sunday coffee sipping in the sanctuary fits?
He followed that with this snippet of verse 28 found in chapter 12 of Hebrews:
…let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe…
So, the first thing that came to mind when I heard about this was, don’t we have bigger things to worry about in the Church? The second thing that came to mind was that on many Sundays as I’m sitting in worship listening to my pastor – who is also my boss – preach, my trusty Yeti is by my side filled to the brim with some Paul Newman Organic Special Blend fresh from the Keurig in the breakroom.
To me, instead of fretting about enjoying a cup of joe during the sermon, how about celebrating the fact that human beings have shown up to hear God’s Word? We have a café at my church, and I can all but guarantee you that as nice as it is and as good as the coffee is, it’s probably not what’s bringing people in. I’m hanging my hat on the sound Bible teaching that’s provided to folks once they get here.
I live in a community where statistics indicate that three-quarters of the local populace don’t know Jesus. Call me crazy, but if the promise of a cup of coffee provides the impetus for even one person to come to hear the Gospel, I say, “Would you like some cream and sugar with that?”
I am by no means the Bible scholar that John Piper is, but as I examine the teachings of Jesus, the environments that He taught in, and the people who came to listen, I somehow have a hard time picturing Him getting riled up by someone nursing a coffee during the teaching. Unless you have a bunch of people slurping so loud that the message is being drowned out. We’re familiar with the account of Jesus driving the money changers from the temple. To me, that’s Jesus showing us where His bar is set and to me, that kind of blatant disrespect for God’s House isn’t in the same neighborhood as coffee in the worship center.
For we who know Jesus as Savior, let’s focus on inviting those who don’t know to come hear His Word and be blessed. If a decent cup of java opens that door, hallelujah!