Monday, February 23, 2009

Cheesebuger in Paradise


February 23, 2009- Special thanks to Jimmy Buffet and the 1978 release of the song, " Cheeseburger in Paradise". I really don't know why this song stuck out to me so much lately. Sure it's a great song with a sing-a-long feel to it, but it has really been with me in a whole different context. The story goes that Mr. Buffet, while taking a boat journey in the Caribbean, had to make it on a diet of canned food and peanut butter. During this trip, all he could think about was the desire to have a good ole American Cheeseburger. Upon arrival to land, one of the first places they ran upon was a restaurant that served, yep, that's right, American cheeseburgers. Even though the burgers were horribly cooked and the orders all wrong, they still ate and very much enjoyed the overcooked burgers. Why do I say this? Well I think that says alot about where I am, where you are as ministers, and where the church is as a whole.

You see the Bible says that we are seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus. That is paradise. And just like Mr. Buffet, we are not satisfied with that, but have our minds occupied with the cheeseburgers of the world. 1) Man, that church is doing great. I wish we could do it that way. 2) That guy has a wonderful job, I wish I could do that. 3) They sure have a wonderful marriage, I wish my marriage was like that. We are so overly concerned with things we wish we had and things we wish we were doing that we miss the blessings of today.

Another perspective is that of the world. People are spiritually hungry for something they do not have. We, as Christians have what they are hungry for, and it is our responsibility to give it to them. The problem with this is that every other fundamentalist group in the world has already seen this and they are moving in to offer their "cheeseburgers". So what should we do as the church? We have to make sure our cheeseburgers are cooked to order. Not our order, but God's order. There is too much fluff in our presentation of the Gospel, and that's not the way God placed the order. We must study to show ourselves approved, and be able to rightly divide the word of truth. That's the order we must bring to the table for all those that hunger. If God calls for cheeseburgers, then feed cheeseburgers, but never fall short to serve the Gospel as God orders. In a time when people are hungry, we must know that when food is offered, a hungry person will eat, so lets get prepared to serve up "Cheeseburgers in Paradise"