Friday, September 23, 2011

Facebook, Restaurants, and the Church


Example 1- I woke up earlier this week, turned on my computer, and was immediately confronted with the most alarming thing to hit this world since we discovered that Milli Vanilli was lip-syncing.  What was it you ask? Did the stock market crash? Was the government overthrown in a violent coup?  Did Congress officially recognize New York pizza as better than Chicago pizza (further proof that we need term limits!)??

NO!  Egads, Facebook changed its appearance again!

(Side note: any time you can work "egads" into a conversation or blog post is time well spent).

For the record, I really don't care what Facebook wants to change.  I'll roll with it.  But the crisis of the situation was, predictably, the world-wide outrage that a provider of a free service (i.e. costs us nothing) would have the gall to attempt to improve the free product that they provide.

Is it really worth the little layers of dead skin that come off of your fingertips when you type to voice your protest- over and over and over again?

Example 2- Yesterday over lunch, I saw a really interesting segment on the news.  It was an interview with Ted Brunson, who hosts a TV show where he travels around America reviewing local restaurants.  The segment can be accessed here.

What I found most interesting (other than the food of course) was his answer to one question- that about whether he has received negative criticism or comments for drawing more customers into these restaurants.

If you watch(ed) the clip, his answer starts out in a sort of "duh, of course the owners like more customers" way.  But as he continues, he points out that the real criticism comes from the long-time customers of those restaurants.  They don't like the fact that their little secret has gotten out, making the restaurant more popular.

Example 1- provider of free service attempts to make improvements, and it upsets people.

Example 2- owner of a business sees his/her business grow, and it upsets people.

My theory is that the complaints about both have less to do with the quality of the products in question and more to do with how the changes inconvenienced ME.

I like the way Facebook looks, so don't change it!  I like knowing my little corner booth in my secret little restaurant is always available, so I don't want more customers to come in.  I, I, I!

Which brings us to the Church.

Disclaimer: the following only applies to you if you feel a certain "ouch" when you read it.  My comments and observations are by no means universal, which means that they do not apply to every single person.

If you ask people in churches, to a person I'm sure every one will say things like "we need to do 'more' to reach people" or "we need to be 'better' at ____."  People will say that they want to see God glorified in worship; they want to see more people attend their church; they want deeper sermons; they want better music.  Each of these statements implies a change of some sort.  But making changes to see these types of results too often upsets the very people who want to see those results!  Deeper sermons may mean longer sermons.  Better music may mean different musicians or songs.  More people means more crowded pews.

Yes, people want major changes, at least to the extent that we can still preserve the status quo.

The moral?  Once we all realize that Facebook is a fun toy, with some nice benefits, but created for a world-wide community and not for the individual, changes will be easier to handle.  Once we understand that business owners open businesses to see a return on their investment (i.e. make money) and not as a vehicle to meet my every want or whimsy, I'll be more understanding when I'm inconvenienced.  And once we all acknowledge that the church is the earthly assembly that God ordained to bring glory to Himself and His Son, we will see real change- real life-giving, world-rocking change!

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