The Well Palmdale, CA

Last night Sarah and I chose to have some In-n-Out for dinner...a true blessing of living out West.  In-n-Out is one of our favorite places to go.  Even though it has really fresh ingredients, it's still a grease bomb, so we limit how often we go. 

Well...last night, we went, placed our order, grabbed our drinks, and sat down in what was an uncommonly empty In-n-Out.  We had both remarked at how weird it was since it was usually so full.  Well, as we ate and chatted about our days, a steady stream of people started coming in...nobody really came together...just a random rush of people wanting Double-Doubles, I guess.

After about 10 minutes I looked around the restaurant and noticed something...it was a surprisingly diverse group there that night.  Behind me was a retired vet and his wife (elderly).  Behind Sarah was an elderly Asian man and his adult son.  Next to us was a Middle Eastern family where the women were wearing burkas.  Catty corner to us was a group of teenagers.  A group of police were in the corner.  A table of African-American teenage girls further down who were next a group of 20-something guys.  There were families of 4, and a family of 7...some with older kids, some with younger.  There was a painter, some Hispanic businessmen, and a young couple who looked college age. 

As I sat there I remarked to Sarah that this was a beautiful thing that we rarely see in our culture.  People of all ages (my estimates were my daughter on up to a few people at least in their late 70's), speaking different languages (I only counted 3, but there could have been more), with different skin colors, from different economic backgrounds (the parking lot had a couple Mercedez, Lexus, Volvos, along with old beat up Fords, Chevys, Hondas, and a couple bicycles)...and all of these people came to that place to really only get one thing...hamburgers (well...minus the vegetarians...they got "grilled cheeses" which is just a Double-Double w/out the meat).  Regardless...everyone was there for one thing...dinner, and there aren't really any major alterations you can make to your dinner (go ahead and try and order chicken or curry or pizza there...I'm pretty sure it's not on the "secret" menu).   

My thinking didn't end with a remark on how diverse of a community we live in, or how great In-n-Out must be.  I thought, why can't the church look like this.  Now, I've known churches made up of those who would fit into one of aforementioned ethnicities, economic classes, and generations.  These are some beautiful ministries impacting so many cultures around our world...which really shows the universality of the cross, but they typically only reach one small part of their mission field (i.e. Hispanic ministry, Korean ministry, Youth Ministry, etc.)  But, my question is this, "Why can't the church, and, more specifically, any local congregation look more like that In-n-Out?" 

In Revelation 7:9-10 we get this image that on the last day every tribe, speaking every language, from all peoples will be gathered to the throne of God singing His praises.  We've made this mistake in our culture as to say that people from different people groups need these ultra-specific ministries tailored to their needs (i.e. we need more left handed, white, female, youth groups who can only meet on the first bi-quarterly Tuesday in this part of town).  Maybe we, in the church, should seek to break down some of these barriers and see how we can bring the simple message of the cross to more people.  If In-n-Out can gather such a diverse crowd even late on a Wednesday night (they really only have hamburgers), then the church should be able to do the same...even more so, in fact.  As the church, we only offer one thing, too...salvation through Jesus.  He came to die for all of creation...the elderly, babies, the rich, the poor, the educated and the not yet educated, youth and adults, from any nation...even those outside of the kingdom who don't know Jesus yet. Jesus died for all people.

As Christians, we have a more universal message, and a more universal feast to offer the world.  The difference between the church and In-n-Out (well...one of the many...but one for this argument) is that In-n-Out has more missionaries, or, at least more zealous ones.  When my family recently came into town, we went a couple times.  When someone visits us for the first time, it's one of the first places we go.  We talk about it, rejoice in it, and eat it like it's going out of style. 

Imagine people having the same passion for Jesus.  Everyone who enters our homes...we speak of His goodness.  Jesus comes up in conversations.  We feed on His Word during our lunch breaks at work or school.  We head out late after a movie to read The Word.  We rejoice as we get to rub elbows with people who we normally would not interact with, but Christ has broken down our walls.  This is the mission that Jesus has called us to.  His love is more powerful and more fulfilling than anything this world could offer.  Let's share that love Animal Style! 

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