Nothing Compares to the Church

Many years ago, I read of a pastor who boarded a plane in a pair of old blue jeans and a T-shirt, looking anything but ministerial. He sat down next to a well-dressed business guy who was reading a copy of the Wall Street Journal. They exchanged the usual pleasantries, and then the pastor asked the man what he did for a living. With obvious pride, he said:

“Oh, I’m in the figure salon business. We can change a woman’s self-concept by changing her body. It’s really a very profound, powerful thing.”

He was a fairly young guy, so the pastor asked him if he had been doing it for very long.

“No,” he said, “I just graduated from the University of Michigan’s School of Business, but they’ve already given me so much responsibility I hope to eventually manage the western part of the operation.”

“So you’re a national organization?”

And he said: “Oh, yes. We are the fastest growing company of our kind in the nation. It’s really good to be a part of an organization like that, don’t you think?”

The pastor nodded in approval.

Then came the inevitable question: “And what do you do?”

“It’s interesting,” the pastor said. “We actually have similar business interests. You’re in the body-changing business, and I’m in the personality-changing business. In my field, we apply basic theocratic principles to accomplish indigenous personality modification.”

The younger man had no idea what that meant, but he said: “You know, I’ve heard about that. Do you have an office here in the city?”

“Oh yes. We have many offices, up and down the state,” the minister replied. “In fact, we’re national; we have at least one office in every state of the union including Alaska and Hawaii.”

By this time, the guy was racking his brain trying to identify this huge company that he must have heard about or read about somewhere. 

The pastor went on: “Yep, in fact, we’ve gone international. And Management has a plan to put at least one office in every country of the world by the end of this business era.”

The pastor paused a minute and then asked, “Do you have that in your business?”

The younger man said: “Well, no. Not yet. But you mentioned management. How do they make it work?”

“Actually,” the pastor said, “it’s a family business. There’s a Father and a Son... they run everything.”

“Wow. That must take a lot of capital.”

“You mean money? Yes, it does. No one knows just how much, but we never worry... those of us in the Organization have a saying about our Boss, that ‘He owns the cattle on a thousand hills.’”

“Oh,” the man said. “He’s into ranching, too? Wow. Well, what about you?”

“You mean the employees?” the pastor asked. “They are something to see. They have a ‘Spirit’ that pervades the organization. The Father and Son love each other so much that their love filters down so that we all find ourselves loving one another, too. I know this sounds old-fashioned in a world like ours, but I know people in the organization who are willing to die for me. Do you have that in your business?”

“No,” the man said. “Not exactly. But what about your benefits? Are they good?”

“Good? They’re amazing. I have complete life insurance, fire insurance—all the basics. You might not believe this, but it’s true: I have holdings in a mansion that’s being built for me right now for my retirement. Do you have that in your business?”

“Not yet,” the young man said, by this time feeling like the figure salon business wasn’t exactly the place to be. “But can your operation last? I mean, companies come and go.”

The pastor said, “Oh, I think we’ve got a pretty good future. After all, we’ve got a 2,000-year run going.”

Nothing compares to the church, does it? No business, no investment, no enterprise, no activity. It’s the heart of God’s plan and the hope of the world. It’s the most dynamic, active, vibrant, forceful project on the planet. It is the one thing we will give our lives to that will live on long after we are gone—and not just for a generation or two, but for all of eternity.

But sometimes we just need to be reminded.

James Emery White

 

Sources

Adapted from Jeffrey L. Coter, “Witness Upmanship,” Eternity, March 1981.

About the Author

James Emery White is the founding and senior pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte, NC, and a former professor of theology and culture at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where he also served as their fourth president. His latest book, Hybrid Church: Rethinking the Church for a Post-Christian Digital Age, is now available on Amazon or from your favorite bookseller. To enjoy a free subscription to the Church & Culture blog, visit churchandculture.org where you can view past blogs in our archive, read the latest church and culture news from around the world, and listen to the Church & Culture Podcast. Follow Dr. White on X, Facebook and Instagram at @JamesEmeryWhite.

The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of CrosswalkHeadlines.

James Emery White is the founding and senior pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte, NC, and a former professor of theology and culture at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where he also served as their fourth president. His latest book, Hybrid Church: Rethinking the Church for a Post-Christian Digital Age, is now available on Amazon or from your favorite bookseller. To enjoy a free subscription to the Church & Culture blog, visit churchandculture.org where you can view past blogs in our archive, read the latest church and culture news from around the world, and listen to the Church & Culture Podcast. Follow Dr. White on X, Facebook and Instagram at @JamesEmeryWhite.