The Church is like a Cappuccino!

Lately, I’ve been working on the upcoming Annual General Meeting for the Church I currently serve. While time-consuming (and at times tedious!), preparing for an AGM always gives me the opportunity to look back and assess not only the Church's progress but also God’s faithfulness to us throughout the previous year.

As I was looking at all sorts of stats and financial reports, I realised something: the Church is like a cappuccino! For the heathens who don’t drink coffee, a cappuccino is made of 3 essential parts: the espresso shot, the steamed milk and the milk foam/froth (and a little chocolate powder if you want it a bit more special). Now, these three parts remind me of how many Churches (if not all) are made up.

Firstly, you have the espresso people! Comparatively, they are not many. But boy they are energetic! These are the minority that does most of the heavy lifting (figuratively and literally!) through committed service, sacrificial giving, and passionate worship. Church looks like it’s their entire world only because Christ is their everything. To them, serving the Church is an expression of worship and of their love for Jesus. Their commitment to God’s purposes in public flows from their devotion to God in private (in prayer, the reading of Scripture, sharing their faith, etc.). To them, despite its challenges and the business of their lives, serving Jesus is not a chore – it’s a joy and a privilege. 

Then, you have the milk people! They are the largest group and tend to fill up the bulk of the cup. They regularly show up for worship and fellowship, and their relationship with and obedience to Jesus are very solid. Their faith is definitely a core aspect of their life and Christ is at the centre of their family. They are very generous and contribute as much as they can to the life and advancement of the Church, but their service requires a bit more “negotiation” with their private life.

Lastly, you have the froth people! They are a mixed bunch for sure. At one end of the spectrum, you have people visiting or wondering in for the first time “searching” for something, or seeking to reconnect with God after a long spiritual “winter”, or His divine intervention at a moment of crisis. At the other end of the scale, are those whose commitment (or lack of) is a reflection of their superficial relationship with Jesus. They identify as Christians, but Christ is only on the fringe of their life. They enjoy worship, but it’s not high-up on their priorities list. Like cappuccino froth, they are in the “cup” of the congregation but only on the fringe. They are among, but don’t belong so much. By their own admission, they love Jesus but prefer a casual relationship with him than the life-long commitment of marriage.

While this illustration is vulnerable to oversimplification, it is generally accurate and certainly reflects a similar dynamic among Jesus’ early followers. When reading the Gospels, it is easy to see how they were grouped in different categories. You’d have the masses, people who followed Jesus either to be entertained by his miracles or to be fed (Jesus became quite popular after he turned water into wine and multiplied bread and fish for thousands!) However, they are also the first ones to leave Jesus as soon as his words challenged their superficiality or hypocrisy. Then we have the 70, who not only followed Jesus for all the right reasons but were involved in sharing the good news of the Kingdom and preparing communities ahead of Jesus’ arrival. Then come the 12, who spent all their time with Jesus and were personally mentored by him to become his apostles – witnessing his resurrection, proclaiming salvation, teaching his word and laying down the original building blocks of Jesus’ Church. Last but certainly not least, we have the 3: Peter, John and James, who were to become the leaders of leaders of the brand-new community of believers.

While there was certainly an element of selection on Jesus’ part (especially with regards to the 12 and the 3) this selection reflected the disciples’ relational closeness with him, their commitment to Kingdom mission, and even their willingness to die for Jesus and his message. In other words, the closer they were to Jesus (in words and deeds), the further they moved in Jesus’ “circles of discipleship.” Jesus always extended that invitation to everyone, but only few responded without reservations. Hence Jesus’ words “Many are called, but few are chosen.” The 12 and the 3 were not personally chosen by Jesus because they were “better” than others (they were all very flawed men!) but because they made Jesus their highest priority. In the words of Peter: “We have left everything to follow you.” (Matt 19:27-28). 

It’s very easy for these circles of discipleship to be misunderstood as “cliques.” Years ago, in my previous Church, someone (the world’s foremost expert on chair warming) once accused me of “favouritism” because I was spending much more time with a certain group of people than with them. They didn’t realise that this was because they were constantly in the arena of service and mission with me, rather than watching comfortably from the sidelines. Hence my response: “Serve as much as they do and you’ll see a lot more of me!”

The reason I say all this is because Jesus’ “follow me” invitation is still open to all. However, closeness to the Master is directly proportional to our commitment to him and his mission. I often come across people who want the experiences of the 3 with the commitment of the masses, or the glory of the “mount of transfiguration” while living in the valley of comfort, or to hear his voice without being close to him, or to wield the power of Jesus’ Name without embracing its shame (and persecution). As Jesus put it to each person he invited: “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.’” (Matt 16:24-25).

As a pastor, I will always do my best by God’s grace and the help of his Spirit to show everyone that Jesus is worth leaving everything for, and to encourage people to go from froth to milk and from milk to espresso. For that’s how the Church becomes stronger and our mission to awake a slumbering world to Jesus becomes more effective (see what I did there? 😉). But ultimately, this is a matter of choice based on our love for the Master – and that, no one can create. May we be a people willing, like Peter, to leave everything for Jesus because we have found him to be worth our everything.