WWJD: We Want Jelly Donuts!

Hello, friends!

It's a sleepy Sunday morning. I have to remember to make coffee here because they've started closing the snack table at church as soon as worship starts. Apparently, there were some people who were coming late for church, getting coffee and donuts, hanging out until the singing was over, and then just slipping in for the sermon. The scandal is outrageous. But we can't do that anymore, because there are no snacks after like, 10:30. So we're going late to church instead, and I'm bringing my own coffee.

You may think "that's terrible," but really, you haven't heard the music. Sometimes its pretty awful. And there's this one girl on the "worship team" I kinda make fun of... a lot. And I figure it's best just to not give myself an opportunity to be unkind on a Sunday morning, because every time I think: "I'm really going to prepare my heart for worship this time..." and I'll try, and every time I make fun of that girl; rocking back and forth and shaking her head from side to side, hands clasped, with her eyes closed. I think going late to church is one of my ways of "cutting off my right hand," so-to-speak, because I'm tempted to sin (and I always cave!).

So I've got a few questions for the masses. Is going to church a little unenethusiastically better than not going at all? Does that just mean I need to find a new church? Am I a weirdo Christian, or are half the people sitting there thinking: "I wish they still had donuts out... man, that girl just won't stop swaying... does she really mean that enraptured expression or is she just faking?... gas is so expensive right now, I wonder if I should have come?"

Many years ago, I had a friend named Martin who challenged my shaky belief system by pointing at my electric purple WWJD bracelet and saying: "We want jelly donuts!" I was horrified, convinced he was being sacreligious. Now, probably ten years later, I find myself disappointed that they close the snack table early so people will be on time for worship.

In all seriousness, though, I realize that many Christians in the world are very sincere about their faith, and very dedicated to their church. I have been a little nomadic about church, and maybe I'm just not getting the big picture. But I have never felt like I fit in a church, like I really had a "church family," like I was connected enough that people cared whether I was there or not. Maybe, because my current church is an hour away, I am just not able to be involved enough to give and recieve in the way a church family is supposed to fuction. But I think it may be more than that. I'm not convinced that the problem is just me.

Is there something wrong with the church in general here? Are there churches that don't function this way?

Don Miller believes that the church in America in general is pretty messed up. Is there any more literature I need to discover on the subject?

Any thoughts, comments, shared experiences?
I'd love feedback!