Buying Hamburgers Versus Making Them

I went to a hamburger restaurant a year or two ago and had an interesting experience. My order was pretty clear at the counter - I wanted a cheeseburger with no tomato on it. I don’t like tomatoes. I wish tomatoes didn’t exist, in fact, so I didn’t want one on my cheeseburger. It looked like the person behind the counter understood me. She smiled and nodded as if to say, “I perceive that you don’t like tomatoes on cheeseburgers. I will make sure to eliminate the tomato when your particular burger is assembled.” Then she left me and went to get my order.

A few minutes later, as I was sitting at my table ready to bite into my freshly made burger, I noticed a red fruity/vegetably thing sticking out from under the bun. It was a tomato.

At this p0int, I rehearsed in my mind how I had placed my order, the smile the employee had given me, and the surety I felt that I was understood by her. How could there be a tomato on my cheeseburger? I went back to her in order to find out. Actually, now that I think about it, I sort of stormed back to the counter and sharply rebuked her for her insolence. She had made a terrible mistake and if it were not corrected immediately, I would be going to a different cheeseburger establishment in the future. She smiled sheepishly and repeatedly apologized before getting me a new burger.

Now, I’m sure many of you have had a similar experience and you’re probably wondering what this has to do with anything at all. The reason this experience is so striking to me is that it is oddly similar to how many people treat the church. The only difference is that I am often in the position of the employee and they are in the position of the angry customer. People fume over lots of little things that don’t go their way - the music is too loud or too soft; the preaching was too convicting or not convicting enough; the worship leader moved around too much or too little; the church doesn’t do enough (fill in the blank); the cheeseburger has a tomato on it. Very rarely have I heard someone give a criticism followed by them saying, “And I would love to be involved in helping to make this a more edifying place to worship” or “And I would love to get more involved in that particular part of the church and see if I can lovingly contribute to the full functioning of Christ’s body.” No one wants to help make a better burger.

So, I am challenging all of my brothers and sisters in Christ who read this: The church is not a hamburger stand. It is fine to have a criticisms and feel like the church is falling down in places. We all feel that way to some degree or another. But, the solution to that problem is not storming up to the counter and demanding that they do a better job of serving you. The solution is to get involved and use your gifts to help. If you do that, you will immediately learn a couple of things…

  1. It is harder than you think to serve sinners when you yourself are a sinner too.

  2. God is more glorified by your contribution than he is by your criticism.

So, get involved. Become part of the solution instead of just someone who is good at pointing out the problems.