On Community

Nate and I were at Starbucks in Sioux Falls today; they are hiring and had a few posters in their entryway as advertising.  The entire sticker read,

“An opportunity

to be more than an employee

to be a partner”

The other sticker read “Come and be part of something bigger than yourself.

The cynical among us (that’s me!!) are tempted to dismiss this kind of talk.  And yet, this taps into something that we in the church might (and SHOULD) learn from. 

I returned to my in-laws home today to find Ed Stezter’s blog post entitled “Answering Questions People Really Ask“.  The gist is that people are not talking about “going to heaven” when they die, rather, they are looking for, you guessed it…community, participation, purpose.  Starbucks seems to grasp the concept.  What might it look like for our churches to meet the real need for community…the one that only a Body of Christ can meet?

The Weekly Update, and, Starbucks and the Church

Last week, I was at North East Iowa Christian Service Camp with 90 middle school students. I had fun speaking a few nights, ate some great food, hung out with students and got to know Daren Mitchell, a youth minister from Marshaltown, Iowa over his french press and the Starbucks coffee he brought. It was time very well spent. It rained most of the week, but the kids had a great time. I ran a few times while there, 3 miles on Monday and just 2 on Wednesday. I also ran Saturday, Sunday. According to some mathematical formula, one can determine their maximum heart rate by subtracting their age from 220. Well, 220-38=182. On Sunday’s run, my heart rate max was 187…so, I think I should have collapsed in a heap of dead skin and exploded heart. This morning when I ran, it was terribly hot and humid, I thought I was going to die. The good news is that I’m running consistently faster than I was pre-surgery. The bad news is..my time sucks. I wish I knew what the average time per mile was for a 38 year old male.

Unfortunately, the issues with my back seem to be returning. Today, I’m in a ton of pain, and am going to the physical therapist (trainer??-lol) on Friday.

On the summer reading list:
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman
Brave New World Revisited by Aldous Huxley

Brian McLaren points us over to an article at Sojourners in which Jon Stewart is interviewed by “Rev” Jim Wallis. Apparently, Jon and Jim “get it right”, whatever the crap that means. In this amazing interview, Jon Stewart proclaims a works-based salvation, and Jim Wallis affirms is by saying nothing to counter him.

“Jim Wallis: When it comes to aspects of faith, you’ve said you’re not particularly observant—you said you had a bacon cheese croissantwich during Passover this year. What are the best and worst ways you’ve seen religion impact current events?

Jon Stewart: Religion makes sense to me. I have trouble with dogma more than I have trouble with religion. I think the best thing religion does is give people a sense of place, purpose, and compassion. My quibble with it is when it’s described as the only way to have those things instilled. You can be moral and not be religious, you can be compassionate, you can be empathetic—you can have all those wonderful qualities. When it begins to be judged as purely based on religion, then you’re suggesting a world where Star Jones goes to heaven but Gandhi doesn’t.”

Dude, God says that man’s idea of good works are like filthy rags. In fact, the Hebrew used in that verse ACTUALLY says that good works are like used menstrual cloths. So as far as Gandhi goes…absent a relationship with Christ, his works mean squat.

Jim Wallis: So religion has no monopoly on religion.

Jon Stewart: That’s right. Like anything else that’s that powerful—that is touching that deep into the epicenter of the human psyche and our fears, it can be misused. I’m probably much more responsive in a bad way to dogma and to extremism than to religion. When people say things like, “I found God and that helped me stop drinking,” I say, “Great! More power to you. Just know that some people stop drinking without it.” It’s when it gets into the realm of “This is the only way to salvation”—that’s when I think, “Okay, now we’re getting into a problem.”

While “religion has no monopoly on religion” (whatever THAT means), Jesus has a monopoly on who and how one gets in. When Jesus said “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through me”, I don’t think He was kidding.

Here’s part 6 of my review of the “What if Starbucks Marketed Like The Church?” video (at right).

From “Inconsistent Artwork“:

“Here’s a test. How many different versions of the logo did you see in the video? I’ll give you a hint… It’s more than five. Do you ever wonder why most churches have logos and design styles that vary in everything they do? In most cases I would suggest that it mirrors a lack of commitment to who they are as a church…I beg you, as a church, it is time to figure out who God has called you both to be and to reach.”

To be clear: I love Eastview Christian Church; as an employer, they care for me and my family and they are a great place to work, as an involved member, I feel the desire to be a committed participant in what we do, and not just “because” I’m paid staff. I love the people that are here, adults and students alike. God has, is and will do great things here.

But.

I’m not so sure that as a collective, as a “church”, we know who or what God has called us to be. And as for reaching people, I’m not so sure about that one either.

Back to business…Starbucks and the Church, part 4

There’s nothing new right now on the Derek Webb front. Stay tuned here.

This morning on Twitter, I learned about a cool little app called TweetStats. You can see all the details of your tweets, and even make a word cloud, which you can send to Wordle. Here’s the wordle from all of my tweets:

I’ve been reading from the Gospel of Mark over the past week. I’m currently in chapter 2, Jesus has just called upon Levi (Matthew) to follow him. As is the case with the others, the response is immediate. I think this is interesting…Jesus calls fishermen, tax collectors, people with nothing to gain by remaining in their current task and everything to lose by following Him. When I think of my own response to Jesus, I wonder why I’m not like the disciples. Perhaps I’m complacent in my place, my sin. Maybe I haven’t hit bottom yet, I’m not at the point where I see that remaining where I am will lead to sadness, disappointment and death. Rationally, I know and understand. But otherwise, I’m not so sure.

Back from hiatus….the Starbucks/Church video conversation…today’s lesson is from “Reserved for the Barista“, and it’s about signage (watch the video-above and to the right-for a refresher). Before I go much further here, our current building has some issues, and we are in the process of resolving many of them. We’ve been meeting with architects and have some great ideas and plans. We’re in process of fundraising. From the “Reserved for the Barista” post:

“In our video, there were two signage statements we were making—one blatant and another hidden. The “RESERVED FOR…” parking signs did the job that signs do: they expressed value. They said, “These people are important to us.” In our video, the visitors were not valued, just the ones who ran the show: the barista, the manager and the manager’s wife. Without realizing they were doing it, they were saying with signage that, “These are the preeminent people. This is who we value as an organization.”

The hidden statement is that there were no signs for visitors whatsoever. Not parking signs, not welcome signs, not even signs telling them where to enter. In our original cut, we had the couple ask, “Where do we go in?” They were confused about where to enter and ended up just walking where the crowd was headed. Lack of signage simply told them they weren’t important.”

What follows is not a dig at anyone or anything having to do with Eastview, it’s simply a response to the above.

Our church currently has 2 outdoor signs, one on Collins Rd and the other on Regal St, at the “back” or “secret” entrance to our west parking lot. Both are older signs, and while they do communicate that we are a church they need to be replaced. There are no signs directing foot traffic from the lot, and upon entering the building under the sign simply marked “Sanctuary”, there are no signs. Of course, we count on greeters inside the building on Sundays to point people around, but if someone comes in after the fact, or on a week day, there are no indications where to go.

“When we think about how valued we want the visitor to feel, we would all say it should be very high. The way you show that, is in the signage leading up to your entry, and then following that throughout your building.”

Why should we care about how a visitor feels? Richard Resing puts it this way, “Lack of signage in a church leaves the indefinable impression to a visitor that, “this church was not made for you. It was made for people who already know their way around.”

Or, as Jesus puts it, “It is not the healthy who need doctors, but the sick.”

When a critically ill person visits a hospital, they follow the signs, especially the ones in red that read “EMERGENCY ROOM.” Why should we not mark our buildings accordingly?

The Church & Starbucks, part 3

Before I tackle the topic at hand…I heard a few funny things that I need to comment on:

1. According to the bastion of right-wing conspiracies, National Geographic is predicting that the sun is “oddly quiet”, which could produce a “mini-ice age”. But take heart all you glodal warming (or is it “global climate change”? I can’t remember what we’re calling it this week), no matter what the sun does, “the star’s effects on climate will pale in contrast with the influence of human-made greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2).” So, keep buying carbon credits and selling “cap and trade” as the solution to our woes!
2. While driving in this morning, I heard on ABC News radio that someone was testifying in Congress that some banks may “have to fail.” That would have been nice to know before we spent 1.2 TRILLION dollars. But, that’s what happens when “hope and change” reverts to “the sky is falling”.

Now that I’ve alienated at least 3 people who might read this blog, let’s return to the video. Today, I’ll be commenting on the “Real Men Love Java” post. You can watch the video by clicking on the link to the right.

“You’ll notice that there are some great bumper stickers in our video… “Real Men Love Java,” “Think this coffee’s hot??” and of course the Starbucks logo eating the Juan Valdez logo. Now, this was not meant to be a cheap shot at all Christian bumper stickers, as bumper stickers are not the issue when it comes down to it. We specifically chose bumper stickers that had a combative undertone…If you have 10 seconds to say something to someone with your car, is that what you want to tell them?”

I have my own feelings on the whole bumper sticker/Jesus t-shirt situation. A few weeks ago, I was driving to Cedar Falls and got behind a truck that had a huge sign on the back that read, “Are you rapture ready?”. What does that mean? Does a non-believer understand that phrase? Or, do they just lump them in with all the psycho “Left-Behinders” whose car will be “un-occupied when Jesus returns”? That’s just what we want to communicate…when Jesus comes back, there will be a 20-ton, 53 foot long missile barreling down the highway at 70 mph that will front end some hapless soul and then jack-knife, causing the deaths of untold dozens of people who won’t get the “second chance” at redemption. (Gee, now you know my eschatological bent as well.)

“Think this Texas heat is hot? Wait till you get to hell.” This is along the lines of “Get saved or get microwaved.” It might sound cute when we say it among believers, but would you ever kick off an evangelistic effort with this door-to-door opening line? Oh yes, and we are not the biggest Darwin fans, but does our fish have to eat his fish? I’m not saying it doesn’t work—just that combative evangelism is not necessarily the best way to open hearts. I assume most of the church world gets this, but let’s be aware of our need to develop a culture that loves people into the knowledge of God. Remember, it is “His goodness (kindness and patience) that leads us to repentance” (Romans 2:4).”

What if we desired to really love people? What would that look like? Let’s go to 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a…”Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easilt angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always persevers. Love never fails.”

The aforementioned bumper stickers and tractor trailers come across as boastful and proud. The opposite of love; as Derek Webb sings, “Truth without context, my favorite of all my crimes”.

Some points to ponder:

What are we communicating to non-believers by what we wear and adorn our vehicles with?
What about when people pull into our parking lots, and see nothing but “McCain/Palin” stickers?

The Church and Starbucks, Part 2

Before I get started, I met with one of our adult sponsors who is going to be my small group leader tonight during a parent event. This is his first “solo” lesson, and he is going to do awesome…I’m excited to hear how God is going to use him. Guess where we met…?

Back to the “What if Starbucks Marketed Like the Church” video.

From “Marketing is more than you realize” post:

“When we put up our shingle as a firm, churches were struck by the concept of a “church” marketing firm and routinely asked us, “Oh so you can design my mailer?” We could and we were gracious to do so, but to many churches–the small area of marketing that we call “advertising” or “promotions”, was what they thought marketing was all about.

What is marketing all about? Webster’s says that marketing is “an aggregate (sum) of functions involved in moving goods from producer to consumer.” So how does that apply to the church? The sum of everything your church does to connect Christ with your members and the outside world is marketing. Many might wonder why the video is about marketing. It’s because marketing (connecting Christ with people) is in your parking lot. It’s on the outside of your building. It’s in the way you greet me. It’s in your members. It’s in your message. It’s in everything we do that forms the perception of who we are and what we value to the world we are called to reach…Most churches are not successful at marketing because they don’t quite understand the fact that it encompasses every aspect of church life. They often make the mistake of assuming that marketing is about having the coolest website, but it’s so much more than that. Reality: every single church out there is currently marketing whether they know it or not—there are just some doing a great job, and some doing a not-so-great job.”

Going back to yesterdays post for a moment..are we confident in the result? I mean, the ETERNAL result. Maybe because we are just as prone to sin, to divorce, greed, sloth, gluttony as the next guy, we have seen any real result in our own live to justify bringing someone here. Not that we are going out and saying, “Come to Jesus, and you can be just as miserable as we are!”. The fact is, we don’t have to say it. People can simply look at our marketing. One more quote:

“The truth is, God is not as interested in promotion (mailers and the like) as He is in preparation. He is more concerned that you have created an environment to connect with and retain those who visit your church than He is with how you compelled them in—He wants you to create an environment that a non-believing visitor would actually want to stay in.”

This is something Starbucks does very well. They create an environment to connect with. Recently, our local Starbucks has allowed its baristas to hang their art on the walls, photographs, paintings, drawings…all there. Some of them even deal with “Christian” subject matter. Near one of the photos I looked at today, of a cross in Spain, the photographer talked about how the photo showed the majesty of God. Additionally, having been going to the same one for a few months now, I’m starting to see a lot of similar faces. I also see a lot of little groups, 2-4 people, meeting to just hang out. I’ve seen other places, restaurants mostly, try to rush you out when they’re busy. This doesn’t happen at Starbucks. It’s a place to connect. No pressure. They’ve created an environment that their customers actually want to stay in. It’s legitimate for us in the church to ask if we have done the same.

 

The Church and Starbucks, Part 1

As I wrote yesterday, I’m going to posting thoughts about a video entitled, “What If Starbucks Marketed Like a Church?”.  I posted the video on yesterday’s post, so hit the link if you want to watch the video.  As I stated, I’ll show some comments from the creator of the video, and add my own thoughts and do my best to NOT just regurgitate.

 

From the “Purpose of the Video” post:

“Many years ago I spoke at a conference, challenging on biblical marketing principles (yes, they exist–more to come on that) and I shared the concept that most churches should not promote themselves.”

 

This is an interesting concept.  You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a commercial for Starbucks on tv.  So…how did I find out about them?  I mean, at least once a week I go to the Starbucks on Collins Rd here in Cedar Rapids.  I buy their coffee to grind and make at home.  Each year for my birthday and Christmas, I can count on getting at least one Starbucks gift card.  Heck, I even paid $25 to join the “Gold Club”.  Starbucks doesn’t need to promote themselves…I do it for them, and so do millions of other people.

 

“I further challenged that every person who has had a life-changing experience with Christ wants every one they know to have a life-changing experience with Christ. If they are not inviting people to church, it is likely because they are not confident in the result.”

 

“Not confident in the result”.  If Starbucks sold bad coffee, the word of mouth would kill them.  Because there are no commercials, their only promotion is people.  People who are confident in the result.  Occasionally, they’ll screw up.  A few weeks ago, my sister-in-law and family were in town.  Her husband is also a Starbucks fanatic, so we went.  Something was amiss, and he took his coffee back twice to be corrected.  Both times, apologies were offered, and I didn’t see any anxiousness on the part of the staff, they were not negative, they just took care of it.  I saw that, and now I’m telling you about it.  We should be asking ourselves WHY people are not inviting friends.  We should be asking ourselves if people even know what “result” we are aiming toward.  

 

This introspection really boils down to the idea that we are not doing this for ourselves.  To be sure, Sunday morning corporate worship is just that…worship of God.  It is designed to get believers together communally as one body to praise, exhort and hear God’s Word proclaimed.  BUT, visitors also have needs.  One of the things we should be aiming for is to “prepare the soil” as much as we can.  I’ll close with a final quote:

 

“Every church has the opportunity to better themselves and be introspective, so I don’t want you to think your church is excluded from this. Your takeaway is not to determine which church this fits the best, it is to go back to your church and ask, “God, how can we connect with the lost more effectively so we can share your love with them with greater success?”