Sipping on some Starbucks today, I was reminded of this old post; a challenging reminder.

http://tterzek.tumblr.com/post/10533346083/starbucks-promise

I was in Starbucks, a normal trek for myself, and I read one of their advertising posters which said: If your drink is not perfect, let us know and we will make sure it is. I had seen the message before, but at this occurrence, another thought entered my mind: this is quite a promise, one that is hard to keep, but one I would be highly disappointed in if they did not come through on. People expect others to hold to what they proclaim, and when they do not, it leads to disappointment. The disappointment is rooted in the proclaimers dishonesty.

Could it be that this is one of, if not the primary, cause of disappointment with the church?

We don’t live up to the promise we pronounce, or that the Bible pronounces. In Acts we see the early Christians dividing up their goods and distributing to all those who need (Acts 2:44). We see the poor being cared for (Acts 4:32, 11:27-30), the sick being healed (Acts 3:6-9, 5:16, 9:34), and the sinful being forgiven (Acts 2:41, 11:19-26). Where is the love from the Christian church? Where is the source of healing? It seems that almost every time I see a “Christian” on the news, they are propagating bad news, and is not the Gospel the source of good news? 

We have come across a society that is content with their lifestyle. They see nothing that they lack that the church has. This is a flaw. We are not performing our promise: that of a new life, better than anything the world can offer. When our modernized culture hears church, some keys words come to mind: judgmental, hypocritical, ritualistic, legalistic, dull, boring, and downright stupid. 

The world hears us recite, “Come here all you who are troubled in need of peace, and we can help! If you’re searching for truth, grounded in love, come into these walls and you will find it.” But the reality is, we are not living out this truth; we are not performing our promise.

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. 

Colossians 2:6

The scriptures are clear, we are to “walk” in the truth of the gospel. We are not to sit idly by recanting what we have been fed from the pulpit, we are to engage truth and execute it with love to the world. 

Perform your promise.