Let me tell you a parable.
I was at an Anglican conference recently. There was a coffee machine. After some experience with this machine, I pointed out it was a parable of the Anglican Church (for you, it might be a parable of yours or another church):
It looks big, and flash, and fancy; and is expensive…
It does very little (basically it can produce black coffee)…
It does this very badly (the coffee wasn’t hot, it tasted pretty foul)…
By now we were laughing. Someone looked over to it and added, No one is using it…
The next day someone someone had a feature that was not at all obvious pointed out to him. He added, No one knows how to use it properly…
It actually produced hot water very well (don’t ask me why water could come out hot, but the black coffee was lukewarm). This big, flashy, fancy, expensive machine can do something well – but that something can be done much simpler. Another person described their simple, inexpensive coffee-making pot you put on a hot plate and get perfect coffee every time…
I think one of the churches in Revelation was termed ‘luke warm’ and was spewed out.
‘Strain a gnat, swallow a camel…’
🙂
With a machine like that you almost always need to preheat the cups, especially if you are using ceramic, glass or china. Cold cups will suck the heat right out of the brew.
I think a lot of my ministry is preheating the cups. How sad, then, when what is so often offered to fill this is of such poor quality. Blessings.
Ah…now I remember that machine. I thought of it as I brewed my coffee back at home. Myself. No fancy machine. Perhaps part of the parable could be that big flashy impersonal church doesn’t help you connect you with God – you have to do that part yourself ? Just saying !
🙂 Blessings, Tim.