The Menu is Just Fine
Matthew 22:2-3
"The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come."
A few years ago the fast food restaurant chains changed their menus to try and make them healthier. McDonald's was one of the chains that tried to make their french fries healthier for their patrons hoping that it would cause more people to come to their restaurant. What they found out was that people didn't come to McDonald's because they were looking for healthier french fries. Their sales went down because they changed the menu. It didn't take them long to go back to the proven recipe which resulted in their sales going back up.
The story from the verse above is about a king who had a son who was going to get married. He sent his servants to invite people to the wedding, and to his surprise there were many who would not come. What I like about this king is that he sent his servants back out, but he sent them out with the same message, but to different people. This king understood that anyone who was to come to his son's wedding were all going to have to come the same way. He wasn't going to change his menu to draw a crowd. This king realized that his menu was just fine, and those who didn't want to come would suffer the consequences.
All too often there are people in Christianity who try to change the menu of who we are to draw a crowd. There are many independent Baptist preachers who think the old-time ways of doing things just won't work today. With this mentality they change their menu hoping to draw more people. They find out that changing the menu also changes their product to an undesirable product. They find out that the newer menu of doing things doesn't work.
Several years ago I was golfing with a friend of mine who commented about a preacher who went to Heaven. He told me that he felt God sent him to Heaven because this older preacher wouldn't make needed changes in his methods to draw more people to his church. This friend of mine said that the times had passed up this older preacher. I responded by telling this friend that whether or not the methods of the Word of God draw a crowd is not the issue. Truth is the issue and truth never changes. I told this friend if he changes the methods of this older preacher that he would quickly find out that his product would change as well.
Christian, we must be careful about always looking for newer ways of doing things. God's menu of doing things always works. Purity still works today. God's standards of dress and living still work today. Door-to-door soul winning still works today. Old-fashioned preaching still works today. On and on we could go, but we must understand that God's menu is just fine. It has worked for many centuries, and it will continue to work.
You may say, "Bro. Domelle, we can draw a bigger crowd if we change the menu." You may be right, but that doesn't change right and wrong. A dead carcass on the side of the road draws a crowd of buzzards, but that doesn't mean I want to be in that crowd. Drawing a crowd is not the issue. It seems today that many are more interested in building a mega-church than they are in doing things according to God's menu.
Christian, don't be guilty of looking for a new menu. God's menu of living and building churches has worked in the past, and it will continue to work today. Don't let suave preachers beguile you into believing that truth changes with the times. Always stand for truth. Even if God's menu doesn't draw a crowd, His menu is still right. Let's just stay with God's menu that has been tried and tested and has proven that it produces a great and desirable product.