Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, and the Church
"Hey Sally, let's go study at Dunkin Donuts. They have great coffee and donuts and we have so much to study for that big test!"
It is a rare thing for someone to suggest Dunkin' Donuts to go do anything at.
The only few times I have chosen Dunkin' Donuts over Starbucks is simply because I had only $3 to spare.
How many of us have stopped in Starbucks, not even for the product but the atmosphere?
If you are a Starbucks everyday customer, why do you stop by everyday?
Why not save a few bucks and go to Dunkin' Donuts? I mean, their coffee is a very fine cup of coffee, I actually would drink it. (Starbucks Barista Confessions).
Two great companies. Two awesome products. But there is always a winner when it comes to success in all areas, Starbucks.
New York City would not dare put Dunkin' Donuts on every corner, too many risk for foreclosures of not being able to compete in the "Starbucks World,"
The core of a barista's training at Starbucks is to "create the Third Place Environment."
The idea that people have two places they spend a majority of their time, Home and Work.
Starbucks wants to be the third place, where you decide to go.
Their design is what they say, "In our stores, we want people to write best-selling books, create their best work, create art that could make them millionaires, or the place for the hero- the stay at home mom to find time to relax." They want people to know they are important, and we create a product that makes them feel the same way.
"Sally, wanna go study for that test at Starbucks."
"Sure, it is a great place to get things done. You buyin?"
"Ha, since you bought the last time."
Starbucks is a multi-billion dollar cooperation, and has stores internationally.
Alright, enough about coffee and its successes.
The church is a multi-billion people business. Our job is persuade, win, share with the love of Christ, the gospel, and the message of heaven and hell before our time is up.
Many Christians understand this, and actually live it out.
But, is the church they are attending living it out? Is the church being the Third Place environment for the sinner, and for the Christian.
A Christian should walk into the double doors with a sense of peace, belonging, hope, and relaxed but yet still motivated to make a difference. It is the place where people should come to be inspired by what they are hearing from others, convicted for what they are lacking, and challenged to move forward.
The church as become a place where people fix their outsides, and not their insides. It destroys peace and unity when the outside of the cup is clean, but the inside is as dead man's bones. (Jesus said that.)
What about the widows in our pews, the uneducated teenager, the grown man trying to lead a family, the woman who lost her identity to the self image absorbed society.
The church is not the building itself, we know that.
The church is the people in it. I am not blaming the church. But I am challenging the Christians who make up the church. The body of believers who have walked around with their arm in a sling too long. We are called to be broken as individuals before Jesus, not in our unity.
The church should be where students come and get school help and in return experience the love of Christ through mentorship.
The church should feed the hungry, but not just physically-- but giving them an everlasting hope.
After working at Starbucks, their are many people who just come as they are since coffee is their number one need before they even get dressed, do their makeup, and get the kids ready.
We are the stop in between. They do not worry about their outside.
Now, we should reflect what is going on, on the inside. Holiness is the cry for this generation, for our churches.
Big poofs, Jeweled Everything, And Flashy "Look at Me" and my holiness get together with little to do in ministering to people, or making a daily difference in their walk with God, and loving others. Those who live on the outiside holy, but miss the idea of what living for Jesus is all about-- miss the idea.
You become the Dunkin' Donuts-- a cheap imitation of the real thing.
So my challenge, is to make a difference in your local church, if it preaches Acts 2:38-- then you live it out in your walk of holiness, but do not stop with you, yourself, and well.. you. Tell someone, then that someone will tell someone., then that someone will tell someone.
Let people decide to go to your church since it presents the gospel in the best possible way. And you are apart of making it happen.
Forget ridiculing people who actually try, forget worrying about finding your self-worth in what people think about, forget trying to get all fancied up for church if your heart is not in the right place, forget putting on a show, oh! and forget worrying about your position or status-- it does not get you to heaven where you stand in the "position at church." Your whole purpose is to glorify God in everything you do, and your self- worth is found in what Jesus thinks about you. (Confessions of Sanguine/Chorleic).
Let's not paint the "picture perfect" church. Let's redo our hearts, since we are the picture of the church to our lost and dying world. You are the church, so be it.
Are you a Starbucks or a Dunkin' Donuts?
Inspired by: Thoughts of wondering why some companies do better than others, and how did they get there and why, then taking that leadership/marketting principle and see how it can help the church as a whole become more effective in presenting the Acts 2:38 gospel. We have the best kept secret, but it is a matter of what we do with it. Also, inspired by how blessed I am to be the The Peninsula Pentecostals who runs a small-group church, not a church that has small-groups (big difference). I am a product of a small-group church, and of a wonderful Pastor who instilled leadership into his aspiring young people at a very young age-- now it is what I love and well... breathe. And of course, the inspiring moments with my Savior, Jesus Christ who is my true Love. My First Love, and to only know Him more is my deepest desire.
