It's About the Pies

As sometimes happens I was sitting at the car service waiting room the other day when another customer started talking to me. At first it was about the weather, etc. I then got involved in my book, but that didn't entirely end the attempt at conversation. A couple minutes or so later the other customer volunteered that the previous weekend he had been out of town and went to church with some of his family.

It was, I gather, a church with quite a few people. Sounded, in fact like a mega-church of some type. That isn't what seemed to interest my waiting room compatriot. Nor did the music or style or sermon in the worship service merit passing on to me. What caught his attention was pies.

I was told that when they left the worship service there were all these pies waiting for them of several different kinds. He even said that there seemed to be enough for everyone in worship. "Isn't that something?" he implied.

I wonder how the pastor of that church would feel if he knew that the pies were more interesting than what he had to say?

Or how would Jesus feel if the pies for post-worship caught more attention than He did?

Of course I may be reading more into it than I should. Perhaps this was just a way to start a conversation about church. Perhaps he was hoping I would ask more about the church and carry on a continuing conversation. Maybe he wanted to find out my spiritual leanings.

But I would guess that there may be more than just this one visitor who was impressed by all the work that goes into producing (or at least cutting and setting out) all those pies. Actually I find it interesting. It is probably a way to give the BIG-church a feeling of the fellowship of the small church. It may be a way to bring people together.

I have to admit that I do have mixed feelings about it. (Not including my love of good pies.) On one hand there is the importance of fellowship in the life of the church. It may be an essential to help people "bond" and therefore improve the overall ministry. But the larger the church the more difficult that bonding becomes. In fact the bonding is much more effectively done in small groups, studies, trainings, etc. In fact, some of the best bonding is done in ministry or mission activities.