On the Fifth Day of Christmas: Cookie Cutter Ways

Some of the best conversations Dan and I have are while we are driving in the car together.  Yesterday afternoon, we braved the roads and headed out to go grocery shopping for our party on Saturday.

I shared with him a video that someone had sent us of a worship team. It was a great song, but when I looked up the song from the original artist, it was done in the exact same way even down to the light show.  And that got us off on a bunny trail about how so much of what goes on in the church today follows secular marketing strategies.

If you read the websites of many churches, they read like something straight out of the same brochure.  They use many of the key words: passionate, vision-oriented, transforming, and on and on. Each pastor has the same "look" and uses the same lingo.

I'm not bashing these churches because many of them are being extremely effective in reaching people, especially millennials.  But the problem often comes when other churches try to copy what they do.  If we just follow this formula then our church will grow, and yet, God works differently in different communities.  What works for one community will not work in another. 

Which is why the cookie cutter mentality doesn't work.  Communities are different, people are different, personalities and needs are different.  Church leaders need to be in prayer to see what the needs are in their own community and then ask God to show them how to meet those needs.

We also have a tendency to compare ourselves with others.  Why can't I have the gifts that Sue has?  When we compare we feel lacking.  I struggle with this from time to time, and yet, God made me with the talents and gifts that He wanted me to have.  I can be used right where I am if I open my eyes and see the needs around me.  God didn't make cookie cutter people and I need to stop trying to be like someone else, or stop trying to make someone else be like me!  Just as churches will be different, people will be different too. 

So embrace who you are!  Don't be a cookie cutter. You are unique, and God made you to be that way.  

Okay, I'm off that soapbox.  Today is the 5th day of Christmas and the plan today is to clean and prep for tomorrow.  I have all that I need.  Last night I made coconut date balls and oh my! Yummy.

We are still buried in snow and in between baking I'll watch another Christmas movie.  Holiday Inn is one of my favorites so I think that's the plan. I'm really liking the celebration of the twelve days because it makes the festivities last longer. Have a wonderful 5th Day of Christmas!