I'm Impressed

What would happen at my church if we shut down the coffee bar one Sunday morning to make an important point? Or removed all the chairs from the auditorium? Or sang songs nobody likes (intentionally, I mean)? Danny Franks found out:

Sometimes I underestimate my flock.

If you’re not a Summit attendee, you may not know that I’m the Campus Pastor of our Brier Creek AM Campus. If you are a Summit attendee, you should know that I have never ever referred to you as “my flock” before…this was the first time. I’m sorry. It just happened. I feel sheepish about it. I wooly do.

Editor’s Note: Move on, please.

But sometimes I underestimate my fl…um…my peeps. It happened yesterday. Yesterday, we did something a little different to start off our worship services. We began five minutes early with some scripture, worship music, etc. to get peoples’ heads and hearts screwed on straight. And as part of that, we did the unthinkable…

We shut down the coffee bar.

Now for you non-coffee drinkers, that doesn’t sound like such a bad thing. Oh sure, you can sip your sissy bottled water and hold your pinky aloft whilst you sip your Diet Dr. Pepper and look disparagingly at the world, but for many of us, not having coffee at church is anathema. I had mentally prepared myself for the onslaught of snide commentary, walk-outs, and perhaps even the occasional full-body tackle.

I had steeled myself to the morning. I even committed that I would be present at the official closing-down ceremony so that I could keep the caffeinated crazies from verbally abusing my volunteer team.

But it never happened.

People were gracious. They said nary a word. I got a couple of smiles, winks, and “attaboys” as folks passed by, even the ones who were too late to consume their precious beverage. And in the middle of it all, I made the realization:

We’re cultivating worshippers.

We are seeing a group of people raised up that care more about their relationship with their Savior than Starbucks. They’re more worried about devotion than Dunkin’. They’re more committed to getting in the pew than fixing up their brew.

Editor’s Note: Seriously? Enough with the word plays.

It’s stuff like yesterday that makes me even more thankful to be a part of a church like this. I’m glad that stuff that would normally be a big deal…isn’t. I’m thrilled to see people who will sacrifice their creature comforts if it means we get to meet with God. And yes, I know that should be a no-brainer, but in some churches…sadly…it’s not.

So Summit peeps…my flock…awesome job yesterday. I love ewe.

Editor’s Note: That’s it. You’re done. Take your puns and go home.

Hmmm. I'm not sure I'm brave enough to find out. Maybe we'll just start small, like moving the coffee bar off to a new location. Yeah, I'm sure that'll teach us something.