Ok - folks, hear me out. This MERE OPINION. This is not a Biblical mandate, this is not a black and white issue. It is more of a cultural phenomenon.
Growing up in Strawberry country in Lakeland/Plant City FL, I never remember and I mean never - people bringing anything to drink into the service with them. Sometimes when my Mom would go to coughing, I'd have to go to the back closet room to the water fountain and get her one of those Dixie cups to drink. That is all. Even when I switched to a SBC church, I don't even remember having coffee/tea/water in the foyer... We had breakfast in SS but that was it - we wouldn't dare bring it into church.
In all of the churches post-high school that I have been a part of - no matter how conservative or contemporary - all have had coffee in their foyer/sanctuary. This is my thought:
1. Is the church hour no longer a separate time that we come in to God's presence, worship, fellowship - leaving the World out?
2. Are we so living in a Starbucks/Caribou/Java world that we can't do without it for not even 2 hours on a Sunday morning?
Great - have it in the foyer, mingle over it before the service starts - I think that is a great idea...but can't we do without our addictions during the worship service? Just a thought...
1 comment:
This really strikes a chord with me. Coffee isn't my downfall, but other things are. Sometimes church just becomes an item on my to-do list that needs to be checked off, and so I wonder into worship mindlessly, much like I wonder into work every morning, with the attitude of "just get it done and move on to the next check list item". Your thoughts have encouraged me to consider Sunday morning for what it is intended to be: a time to worship and a time to learn and a time to encourage fellow believers.
Post a Comment