Thursday, May 08, 2014
We Can Learn From Anything, But Should We?
Ron Edmondson is trying to learn from Starbucks:
My second comment is theological. Change is not the issue and in many cases it is not even what you change into. Think of the wars that have started in the name of peace. It is HOW the change comes that makes all the difference.
Let's do this by analogy. There is no difference in the work product of a Christian carpenter and a non-Christian carpenter. Both use the same tools in the same way to produce the same cabinetry. But, I'll bet most people would prefer to have the Christian carpenter in their home. Why? Theoretically, the Christian carpenter should be nicer to deal with in every aspect of the job. It is not what he makes, but how he makes it.
The point I would make is that we can learn from any successful enterprise, but if the church really wants to start being the church again, it needs to learn from Christ - not what to do, but how to go about doing it.
church culture lessons
I believe the church is to be a cultural change agents in our communities, but the truth is that many coffee shops have taken some of that responsibility. Starbucks supposedly began trying to be the “Third Place” for the community.My first comment is simple logic - if you want to change something, following someone that did the last change does not sound very smart - that is reinforcing their change, not making your own.
My second comment is theological. Change is not the issue and in many cases it is not even what you change into. Think of the wars that have started in the name of peace. It is HOW the change comes that makes all the difference.
Let's do this by analogy. There is no difference in the work product of a Christian carpenter and a non-Christian carpenter. Both use the same tools in the same way to produce the same cabinetry. But, I'll bet most people would prefer to have the Christian carpenter in their home. Why? Theoretically, the Christian carpenter should be nicer to deal with in every aspect of the job. It is not what he makes, but how he makes it.
The point I would make is that we can learn from any successful enterprise, but if the church really wants to start being the church again, it needs to learn from Christ - not what to do, but how to go about doing it.
church culture lessons
