Cough Syrup Christianity

One of my most dreaded tasks as a father has been to give my children cough syrup. They absolutely hate it! I have had numerous opportunities to waste 5 tsp's of the stuff trying to get 2 tsp's of it down their throat. Now, I'm a pretty brawny fella and can subdue my tight faced squirming kids, but I have not figured out how to get them to swallow. I can't say that I blame them though. The cough syrup tastes horrible! Cherry flavored, my rear! When was the last time you sat down and had a nice warm piece of cherry pie that tasted like cough syrup? NEVER. I remember a syrup in Canada called "Buckley's". Their catch phrase was, "It tastes terrible, but it works." The "it works" part will work for adults who want to get better, but not for children. They couldn't give a rat's behind if it works. They cue in to "it tastes terrible".

Some brainiac FINALLY did something about this. They created these cool little squares of flavor that the kids just lay on their tongues. The stuff disolves in seconds and they actually taste good AND work! Brilliant! My kids actually try to get colds by picking their noses, not washing their hands and putting their fingers in their mouths all the time - just so they can eat one of the yummy squares. (Not really, I'm sure they have other reasons.)

Christianity is very similar to this story. What Christ did for us on the cross IS amazing and unfathomable! But to many people Church has become like cough syrup. Good for them? Yes. But will they run to church to get a drink/dose? Probably not.

Yet, there are some churches that have realized, like the brainiac who invented the "magic squares", that they can do something about how the unchanging message can be communicated in a way that intriques and creates thirst for our living God. Thousands of people die every day with no hope and a terrible future. If the church smugly builds its church, crosses its arms and sits back with the "Field of Dreams" mentality - build it and they will come - then this trend will continue in the same direction.

Just like the cough syrup - the "active ingredient" doesn't change, but the other ingredients do. We progress from tents, to buildings, to candles, to electricity, to air conditioning, to padded pews, to hymnals, to power point, to drama, to musical instruments, etc..... All because we desire to see more and more people come into this relationship with our amazing God. And we must realize that unless we are willing to tap into and become students of our culture, there will be numerous people who will never come into our buildings, nor will they ever have the opportunity to even hear this message of hope.

Ernie