There is a meme out there floating around that I want to talk about. It says, “McDonald’s can mess up your order 101 times and you still keep going back …
One thing goes wrong at Church and you quit.”
It goes on to say, “People just aren’t hungry enough.”
I beg to disagree. Wholeheartedly.
Let me tell you why on a couple of different levels.
1. Natural – I have not eaten anything from Mcdonald’s (other than during a family trip on Thanksgiving for a funeral-long story) since 2012. I started having adverse food reactions to their menu items. When I ate the fries, it closed up my throat, making it difficult to swallow, and I had shortness of breath. So I researched and discovered the massive amounts of additives they dump into their food, stuff that supposedly “enhances” the flavor and quality, is poisonous. In reality, the additives are mostly preservatives and chemical compounds that are unnatural and unhealthy. They seem to cause allergic and inflammatory reactions (in most people, but they ignore the symptoms) and reinforce negative eating patterns and obesity tendencies. Here in America, much of what is allowed in the food is BANNED in many countries around the world.
For instance, Mcdonald’s in Japan, England, and France aren’t allowed to use that stuff in their food, so it tastes completely different from its counterparts here. A cheeseburger here tastes nothing like the ones abroad.
2. Spiritual – Leaving a church is not as simple as this meme makes it out to be. Most of us, who have left the traditional model of weekly Church-going, NEVER LEFT GOD. Nor have we forsaken the fellowship of the saints. We simply chose to go directly to Him, without the additives and preservatives. It isn’t that the McChurch messed up our order 101 times. It’s the fact that McChurch thinks they shouldn’t have to apologize or even recognize the poor customer service they’ve dished out for years. It’s also fact that the “additives and preservatives” are choking the Spirit of the Living God from the lives of those who’ve faithfully attended, hoping that the food would get better. We’ve longed for more for years. But we never got served fresh, quality, recipe-driven food. So we left. McChurch, not God.
The Church has been instructed to feed God’s people and serve God’s WHOLE Word. Instead of giving the MEAT of the Word, the menu only offers a semblance of real food. Nothing of substance is being offered in many cases, and people are tired of the same, lukewarm, sometimes stale junk week after week. It isn’t that people aren’t hungry enough. Rather, people are STARVING for real food, and their spiritual bodies are giving negative reactions to the “bad food”.
There comes a time in one’s life when a steady diet of “fast food” becomes unsatisfactory. You learn there is more to a hamburger than 2 undersized not-all-beef patties, lack luster sauce, pickles, lettuce, onions, and cheese on a sesame-seed bun. Once you’re invited to go to a restaurant where there is an authentic Chef who serves up a mouth-watering, gourmet version of a burger, and some fresh, hand-cut fries, you will NEVER feel the same way about the fast food again. Though it might not happen right away, your tastebuds will begin to reject the imitation food. Not only will you desire, but you’ll also crave real food constantly and consistently. It’s not until you sit directly at the table of The Chef that you “taste and see” for yourself “that the Lord is good!”
As I said before, it’s not as simple as saying “The people just aren’t hungry enough.” NO. The people are starving for REAL food that satisfies the spirit and the soul. Just like a 6 piece nugget and a not-real milkshake, it’s not enough to tickle ears, grab a shout and go home still feeling empty. Many of us have found real substance and a relationship with God outside of McChurch, without the traditional, religious behavior that’s become stale and flavorless. It’s just like that experiment someone is doing, keeping a hamburger wrapped up on a shelf in the closet: from the outside the burger looks fresh, with no mold or odor. But the reality it is so preserved from the chemicals and additives that it cannot be consumed anymore.
The McChurch needs a serious menu re-evaluation and update. Blaming the consumer for not accepting poor service and junk food is reckless and heartless. God desires to give His children the BEST from His table, not what is only fast and convenient. It’s not the consumer’s fault that an apprentice chef decided to stop using the premium ingredients that The Chef instructed them to use. A wise consumer recognizes when a business no longer presents its best product, and then decides to take their dollars elsewhere.
McChurch has to admit that as children of God, believers do not have to accept the cycle of spiritually “messing up the order.” The McChurch has got to make some adjustments. We are hungry. Just not for junk. We hunger and thirst for the Word. Without the fillers. Without the junk. That’s why, before experiencing what we did for the 102nd time, we left the fast food alone and went straight to the REAL CHEF. No additives. No preservatives.