Coffee
a slight satire, but serious nonetheless... How many of you would say you're addicted to caffeine?
By providing coffee stations in or outside our worship areas, we are enabling people's caffeine addictions. As a church committed to recovery and healing in Jesus, there is no dependency too light to consider for reconciliation.
I have seen new worship venues pop up with the tag line "free starbucks coffee!". I know youth pastors who drink 3 pots of coffee a day. I know women who hydrate themselves with nothing but diet coke. I've even seen energy drink vending machines in church youth buildings.
Is the Holy Spirit not the source of our power? The church should not be so dependent on caffeine to get us through the day.
Caffeine has become modern evangelism. It's pivotal to attraction. As creative people, have we become weak to let a chemical lead the way in church marketing?
People say caffeine addiction is not that bad. True, maybe it's not. But a dependence on anything but GOD should not be taken lightly.
Am I crazy? or are coffee stations a big problem?
By providing coffee stations in or outside our worship areas, we are enabling people's caffeine addictions. As a church committed to recovery and healing in Jesus, there is no dependency too light to consider for reconciliation.
I have seen new worship venues pop up with the tag line "free starbucks coffee!". I know youth pastors who drink 3 pots of coffee a day. I know women who hydrate themselves with nothing but diet coke. I've even seen energy drink vending machines in church youth buildings.
Is the Holy Spirit not the source of our power? The church should not be so dependent on caffeine to get us through the day.
Caffeine has become modern evangelism. It's pivotal to attraction. As creative people, have we become weak to let a chemical lead the way in church marketing?
People say caffeine addiction is not that bad. True, maybe it's not. But a dependence on anything but GOD should not be taken lightly.
Am I crazy? or are coffee stations a big problem?
Join This Conversation
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Permalink Reply by Nate Woodward on -
Dan, your post makes me think of a broader question we might consider: how ought we to promote the physical well-being of our congregations? And I don't mean to discount the issue of addiction--over-eating is often as much of a coping mechanism as other addictive behaviors. This sort of thing could go to far, of course, but keeping an eye on nutrition, fitness and health in all our church activities should going to make a difference in all sorts of ways.
A few examples:
-scheduling and enforcing lights-out times for youth and children's camps or events to encourage good sleeping patterns (and in so doing, preventing the emotional "high" of a week at camp from being little more than sleep deprivation.
-allocating the classic church potluck list so that you get more fruits and vegetables than brownies and fried chicken.
-Providing other options besides donuts, cookies, and pastries to go with that coffee.
There's an easy solution to your question, though, that far too few churches, IMHO, use: make some decaf. (It's all I drink--I love me some coffee, but I also love me some sleep.)
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Permalink Reply by J.R. Jones on -
I have noticed that people who don't drink alcohol have a tendency to treat caffeinated drinks much the same way. Some even brag about how many energy drinks they had that morning..."man I am Jacked!" And I can't help but think...is this so different from "man I am wasted"
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Linda,
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