Coffee and Church Snobs

Among Christians, "the church" can have a bad rap.  There are "coffee snobs," and there are church snobs.  Unlike coffee snobs who know where good coffee can be found, church snobs resembling connoisseurs seem unable to find a church where they fit.  Like the Pharisees these have an amazing ability to find fault where there is really no fault at all.  Local churches which comprise the universal body of Christ may not be attractive to a visitor, just like a unique nose on a man's face could not be called particularly handsome. But it is the nose he has been born with, and it suits him just fine for smelling.  Church snobs embrace a role similar to an eager plastic surgeon looking for clients, happy to offer opinions how appearances could be improved.  One difference between plastic surgeons and church snobs are church snobs typically do not have a list of churches who have offered glowing reviews and endorsements of their services.

The church is compared in scripture to a building comprised of living stones which are people built on the foundation of Jesus through faith in Him.  It is also compared to to a body in where Christ is the head,  and people make up the diverse members and functions of the body.  To view "the church" as an organisation yet forgetting it is fundamentally a living organism birthed and sustained by God is a grave mistake.  It is more than structure but filled with breath, life, and light by the living God.  Human beings are much more than skeletons but living, thinking, speaking flesh.  God has placed unique personalities within all people, and because of our own human peculiarity we may find some personalities refreshing but others taxing.  Perhaps this is how it is with individual churches as well.  It is more than meetings, schedules, doctrine, and decor.  Every person and every church has a history, style, appearance, and feel all its own.  Pastors and parishioners alike through the transforming love of Christ make a church what it is.

I have heard people apologetically or boastfully claim coffee snob status, but to date I have never heard a church snob admit they are one.  Coffee snobs are all about barista skills, quality coffee, and enjoying the atmosphere of their preferred cafe.  They are receivers, consumers, looking to soak up the ambience.  Church snobs are very much the same, viewing a church like a person looking critically and wincing at the sheer ugliness of a man's nose.  Now a man cannot help the nose he was given at birth, but at least he can keep it wiped clean.  So it should be with church.  A man is grateful for a loving person who quietly alerts him to his dripping nose so it can be washed and be presentable, but to criticise his nose is to criticise the One who made him.  That is the error of what I  call the church snob.  Instead of criticism a contribution of grace would be most conducive to Christian fellowship.

When we commit to following Jesus, our responsibility before God is to cultivate intimate, regular fellowship with other Christians.  Church snobs seem to forget this, preferring their own convictions and company.  A critical and divisive spirit may lead to scathingly amusing cafe reviews, but it is murder on the body of Christ - and for the graceless soul from which it springs.  Instead of looking to receive, a humble servant of God seeks to give and contribute to the health of all through obedience to Jesus.  Instead of pointing out deficiencies, we are called to meet needs through Christ's sufficiency.  There should be a commitment to love believers made from the same stuff as our commitment to follow Jesus before we rebuke or chastise others.  How about sharing the love, mercy, and grace of God with others as you have freely received from God?  Out of His mercy God has maintained a relationship with us though we are undeserving:  how about happily sticking it out with others who love Jesus, contributing grace and being patient in the process?  Choose to learn to love others in the church, even when it seems impossible.  Then you will know it is God's love in you and not your own.