Parable of the general store

Once upon a time there was a general store that was the hub of the community. Loved by singles, parents, widows and children alike, the store owner knew everyone by name and would sit and yarn about anything and everything if you had the time which just about everyone did when they stopped by. Kids would drop in on their way home from school and pick up a lolly or two. The owner even kept an account for all the regulars who 'mostly' paid on time, and was always generous when some went through tough times. It was a wonderful place of support and community.

One dark day a visitor came into town and declared he would build a new store. This store would be bigger, have more variety, piped music, longer opening hours and of course be cheaper than the community store. It wasn't long and the new store was built. Most of the people in the community wanted to check it out and dropped in. They were impressed by the colours and bright lights of the new store, the TV screens and even the charisma of the manager who could sell ice to an Eskimo.

Before long though the colour started to fade and people started to wonder about the quality of the produce. Some had stuck by the old general store but many were still at the new one. And again it happened. Much like before a man came to town and announced he would build a better, brighter, bigger store to beat all stores. It would serve petrol, provide childcare while you shopped, have live music and even a coffee shop… this would make MEGA look MINI, and he could be so convincing.

Many of those that had switched to the first new store moved again to the better store and the new improved better store even attracted some of the old faithful from the old community store… hey their coffee was very good.

Before long though the colour started to fade and people's interest waned. They complained that no-one knew who they were anymore, the costs for produce in the town had doubled to get all these new features with no improvement in quality... I mean flour was flour right?

Sadly the old community store had been hit hard over the years and eventually had to shut its doors. The first new store suffered tough times too and tried to compete with the 'super' store but new paint wasn't really enough and whilst it stayed in business it was never the same and struggled to survive.

The moral of the story? Yes of course the store is actually the church and over the years we've seen it fade from being a place of support and community to a place that tries desperately to compete with other 'stores' in the area. So much time, energy and money is spent on having the best music, buildings, PA, signs, programs, preachers when none of this is really at the core of what church is supposed to be. So few churches give more than 10% of their finances beyond their walls. It's a survival game so people don't migrate to the 'better' church down the road.

I remember reading George Barna's "The Second Coming of the Church" (circa 90's) and the statistic that jumped out at me was the hundreds of billions of dollars the US church had spent on programs etc. over a ten year period only to show a small decline in overall attendance.

Remember that even church itself is really only secondary (or lower). The greatest commandment according to Jesus is to love God and your neighbour… he agreed that it's more important than your church or anything you do at church (Mk 12:28-34)… if we don't have love, we may as well not bother. Is the western church overall just one giant resounding gong or crashing cymbal?

So… always continue to love! … And work hard at making your church a place of love and grace… that gives outwardly and doesn't consume in a competitive race to nowhere. And what of the grace filled pastor who had loved and lost his 'church'? You may well find him running a bed and breakfast…still loving God and anyone who comes by. My kind of guy !!

Cheers… Scott