Two of our four kids are both in elementary school this year. One of the things they were SO excited about was eating lunch at school. Before school started they didn’t care if they had hot or cold lunch as long as they were eating it at school they were excited. Not long after school started the cry for hot lunch from our kids became a daily routine. They didn’t want to take their lunch box with a PB&J, chips, desert and a Capri Sun juice. They wanted hot lunch. Why? Because it’s “cool”. COOL? You’re in stinkin’ kindergarten who determined already that hot lunch is cool? It’s food. What first grader in the US has enough clout that they can say something is cool and it is?
The 2 arm backpack carry or the one arm. Who makes that cool? When I was in school if you carried your backpack with 2 arms through it you were a definite nerd. Now, if you carry your backpack the old cool way of slingin’ it over one shoulder you’re…not cool.
Trapper Keepers anyone? Who had a Trapper Keeper and you decorated your own? Trapper Keepers were da bomb (even that phrase was made cool) when I was in school. Any high schooler willing to carry one around class now?
I realized that even at 5 and 7 years old my kids are already learning to “chase cool”. It’s innate. We want to belong. We want to fit in. We want other people to like us.
While I could go the direction of saying “This means that we as the church need to be welcoming people, loving them, giving them a place to belong”, I’m not. Why? Because I want to say this. The church is a lot like my kids. Something becomes cool, and we want to do it. I think most churches, at some point or another have fallen prey to this. A trend develops in the church world and all the sudden everyone wants to do it cause it’s “hot lunch”…”two armed backpack”…”Trapper Keeper”. YES, I understand our methods change, we try new things, we do church in such a way as to try and connect the un-churched. BUT, at what point are we just “chasing cool” and at what point are we connecting people with LIFE?
I’ve fallen for this before. Have you? Do I want our church to be fun, exciting, energetic, “cool”. Sure. I’d be a moron to try and do church in a way that I wouldn’t like or people wouldn’t like. Even traditional churches are doing church in a way that certain people will like. Traditional people! Every church does that to some degree regardless of how “traditional” or “modern” they may be. We’re all trying to do church in a way that connects with people. What I want to be careful of is following the latest “cool”.
What does God want US to do, and lets do it! That’s IT! REGARDLESS of what the church world says is “cool”. Regardless of what the biggest churches are doing. Be who God asks YOU to be!
Toting My Trapper Keeper,
Jeff






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