We recently passed quite the sight; a tall tower of cars called, “Carvana”. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. It’s basically a vending machine for cars. You can choose your price range, make and model, body type, exterior color, interior color, and nearly any extra feature you can imagine. Once you’re finished choosing from the seemingly endless options, you can have the car of your dreams delivered straight to your door. What a concept! My mind started turning as we drove past this innovative tower. If the idea of this doesn’t scream “American Consumerism”, I don’t know what does. We want everything to our exact specifications, and we want it with ease, and we want it now.
It suddenly struck me that many Christians may have been sucked into this trap, but not with cars; rather, with pastors and churches. We want churches and pastors to our exact specifications. For church, we want the music style a certain way. We want the church members to be the perfect amount of friendly. We want the decorations to match our style, and we want the service to end exactly at noon so we can beat the crowds to our favorite restaurant and make more choices that please us.
Imagine if I were to pick the “perfect man of God” from the “Pastoral Vending Machine”. He would be an exact age of my liking; not too young, not too old, but just right. He would be the perfect balance of serious with a touch of funny. He would have my preferred number of years of education and experience under his belt. He would dress respectfully, but not too trendy. He would have a humble house, a car that drives, but nothing fancy. His sermons would be exactly 25 minutes in length with only the topics I deem worthy. Once I selected my “perfect pastor”, I would turn to the other “Pastoral Vending Machines” and see countless others making countless different choices for what THEY want.
Move over, Carvana. We have a better, cutting-edge idea in the works. “Pastor-vana” or “Church-vana” vending machines might paint a hilarious image in our minds, but is the concept too far from the truth? Do we even consider the moving, guiding, and directing of the Holy Spirit in all of this? We have become a people led not by the Spirit, but by man-made traditions and personal preferences. It’s this stronghold we have on the reigns of control that have led to the demise of countless churches and the discouragement and resignations of pastors across America and the world.
We must let go. Let go of our pride and our preferences. Let go of what WE want and surrender to what God wants. God may have you serve in a church that isn’t quite your cup of tea. Serve there with a sweet spirit and a willing attitude and watch God bless. God may give you a pastor who is about 10 years younger than what you wanted. Pray for him, learn from him, and encourage him. Let go of personal preferences and surrender to what the Lord may have for you. Personal preferences can destroy your church and they can destroy you. So be willing to let them go before it’s too late.
As a sidenote, as Christians, we MUST have discernment when we are at church, but there’s a fine line between being DISCERNING and being CRITICAL. If we aren’t careful, our discernment will bleed into a critical spirit that insists on hand-selecting everything at church to our own personal taste. Anything falling short of this will lead to our unhappiness as a church member. We might even throw a fit in the form of crossed arms, lack of participation, gossip, and sowing discord. Reminds me of “I want an Oompa Loompa NOW, DADDY!!” And if not, a fit will be thrown.
Personal preferences will always exist in some capacity. In and of themselves, if they are not anti-biblical, preferences are not a bad thing. But do we INSIST on our own preferences winning?
The Bible addresses preferences, but considering we’ve already addressed the bad, and the ugly, I want to draw your attention to this verse that gives a positive spin to the subject. A life-changing treasure of truth can be found in Romans 10:12: “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another”. Basically, love others enough to put them before yourself on the ladder of importance. Talk about one of the absolute hardest things to do! We will spend a lifetime attempting to prefer others as much as we naturally prefer ourselves, and yet it will never be mastered. But it’s not a suggestion. It’s a command. The pursuit of this noble cause can radically transform ourselves, our homes, and our churches.
Pride & preferences destroy. This life, that church, that pastor…is not about us. It’s not about what we want to hand-select from the “vending machine of life”. It’s all about Jesus; and Jesus has commanded us to put the desires of others above our own.
Do we want to forsake those preferences that destroy? Do we want radically transformed churches across this world? Do we want radically transformed lives in general? Keep Jesus the focus, step out of the way, and prefer one another (Phil. 2:3).
1 John 2:16 – For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Romans 12:16 – Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
Philippians 2:3 – Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
Romans 10:12: “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another”.
Just a Mom’s View 