I just felt like I had to get that out of the way before saying …… that I was at Starbucks a while ago with my wife, and as it happens every holiday season at Starbucks an employee was cruising the store, passing out dixie cup shots of caffeinated holiday cheer. Today’s was egg nog coffee. Bad idea. Anyway, Promotional Barista Guy offered a sample to these two ladies who were sitting at a couch talking and one lady turned him down saying “I’m not really a coffee drinker.” And all I could think was “really? You know you’re at Starbucks right?”But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Starbucks is absolutely brilliant. They’ve managed to create a space so inviting, that people who really want nothing to do with their product, who passionately are AGAINST consuming coffee, will come to their place to catch up with a friend, to find a quiet place to read or work, to do life. And what Starbucks probably knows is that, given enough time, this non-coffee drinking lady will eventually come around to coffee. It will start subtly — ordering a chai tea, or one of their smoothies or something. But then one day she’ll eventually accept Promo Barista Guy’s free sample, and to her surprise find she likes it, and next thing she knows she’s a coffee drinker without even knowing when that change happened. And this really isn’t anything new, but it hit me in that moment this is what the church should be like (and in its better moments is ) — a place where people might not be all that interested in Jesus, but where they feel comfortable, and connect with others, and experience community and maybe — over time — realize they developed a love for Jesus without even knowing how that started.
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