Making Room 4 God

I am not a coffee connoisseur, but I have been brought to (or should I say dragged to) enough Starbucks boutiques that I can pretty well tell you where most of the Starbucks are located in the Fraser Valley. I like to spend time with my wife - and well - she likes to spend time at Starbucks. People often tell me – “oh I ran into your wife yesterday” - and I can guess, and usually guess right – “don’t tell me, was it at Starbucks?” So my wife is one of those Starbucks queens - Tim Horton’s is looked down on with disdain, and for her, restaurant coffee is given the same consideration as dirty dishwater. 
When we go for “coffee” - I will often stand in line and make the purchase while Virginia finds a good spot for us to sit at. Starbucks has a pretty consistent way of doing things and I remember the first time I heard what are now very familiar words “would you like room for cream?” The first time I was asked that I may have thought how considerate my barista was.

But it didn’t take long for a more cynical perspective to cross my mind. I envisioned a bunch of Starbucks executives meeting in a boardroom discussing stagnant profits and how they could increase their profits with a little question like “would you like room…?” On one cup, the bit of coffee they don’t serve you which far exceeds the few drops of cream that most people add may seem insignificant. But when you multiply it out by the mega millions of cups they serve around the world, in my estimation, that adds up to a significant additional corporate profit.

But this blog is not about Starbucks (although if as some say any press is good press and they may thank me for the mention of their name). Because - well actually - in principle they are right. We only have so much room. It’s true for our coffee cups - it’s true for our lives.  Whether it’s relationships, opportunities, commitments … I’m sure you can think of something that’s applicable to you … if and when we try to put too much into the frame of our life - it just spills all over and creates a dry cleaning bill. Whatever is important to you … you have to make room for it or … prepare for the mess.

By now you can probably see where I’m going with this.  Most Christians would profess that God is the most important thing to them. Many would say they aspire to a deep personal relationship with him. But do we really?  We say we do, but do our actions bear that out? Not if you are an average North American Christian. I recently read Dick Staub’s The Culturally Savvy Christian in which he refers to George Barna’s research which documented that the average Christian adult spends 7 times more hours each week watching television than they do participating in spiritual pursuits such as Bible reading, prayer, and worship. The ironic thing, is that while for many of us our lives are in somewhat of a mess - busy, busy - we are dissatisfied with our Christian walk - we actually hunger for something deeper with God - in reality we leave little or no room for uh … God. There are just too many things crying out for attention that if we do not intentionally make space for God in our lives it probably won’t happen. I’ll take it a step further too. Some of us can exhibit great discipline, but for most our flesh is too weak, and the personal discipline that we know we should have to pursue God and let Him pursue us quickly fails us. The point is - making room for God - is best done in tandem with others. I know of men who are now meeting in groups of 3’s or 4’s for encouragement, Bible reading, prayer and friendship. They are spurring one another on to know God better and it is working. I know people who are meeting regularly with their pastorates and life groups and it makes a difference - but only if we are willing to be real with one another and together truly seek God. Praying, really praying… getting past our fears and superficiality … and together giving God the space whereby we can encounter Him and begin to touch the purpose for which we were made. I know of a group of people who set aside a day to pray recently and left refreshed as they had met God in a personal way but also through each other. You have to be intentional about this – just like the barista.
“Would you like room?” Maybe that’s a question we should consistently ponder not just when we are ordering our caffeine, but when we are ordering our lives.