Churches and Restaurants

Several years ago the Alban Institute published a book called Feeding the Flock: Restaurants and Churches worth standing in line for. Tonight I went to a restaurant that would be an interesting case study for that analogy.

First, there was a huge crowd. This is because this particular restaurant is heavily publicized in the community. It is also because there is a museum, gift shop, ice cream shoppe, mini golf, etc. attached to the restaurant. It is also set up to do catering, box lunches, conferences and wifi. The character and ambiance were great.

And I will never return to that restaurant again.

The food was terrible and the service was extremely lack-luster. Everything that a restaurant is actually supposed to have, this one was substandard on. People were not getting their drinks and one family had to wait over ten minutes for someone to walk into the back room to get a plastic fork for a child whose parents didn’t want him to have a metal one. When the manager finally came to see why the family was upset, it took her less than fifteen seconds to go find the plastic-ware and bring it back to them.

As churches, we can get so focused on the peripherals of ministry and church life that we can forget why we exist. We can have tons of programs and events for people, the best facilities, and all the amenities that one could ask for, but neglect the weightier aspects of our calling: to introduce people to Jesus Christ.

To be sure, ministries are necessary, and facilities can help bring people in, but I would hate to be known for the church that has everything and can’t serve people Jesus.

~ by stevebruns on June 3, 2008.