House of Praise

Due to a long, long over-due state vehicular inspection sticker (you know you’re too busy if…), this morning found me somewhat off my usual beaten path. Apparently state inspection stations are not as plentiful as I thought they were so today, after seeking out several locations at pre-dawn AM, I went back to the one I knew could take care of my need. Unfortunately, they didn’t open for another hour! So, given the opportunity there must always be a cup of coffee not too far away.

Craving a “bucks,” but finances and known location getting the better of desire, I wheeled into a place sporting “golden arches.” From the moment I arrived though, I realized the “outsides” don’t always match the “insides.” I quickly discovered this wasn’t your typical “Micky D’s.”

Masculine dark wood décor accented with paisley cushions, beveled glass curio cabinets, potted silk plants, faux wood accompanying ceramic tile floors, decorative “mood” lighting, angular architecture… from top to bottom this place was like stepping into a fast-food parallel universe.

One reason I frequent the nation’s fastest growing coffee chain is as much about ambiance as it is coffee. Those places simply feel “right” to me as body and brain come together in experience. My creative mind is soothed by the soft textures, intentional lighting and (generally) quiet surroundings.

“This is a McDonalds?” I ask myself upon entry. Sitting in a booth, I realize this doesn’t feel like a McDonalds at all (and the coffee was the best fast food coffee I’ve ever tasted). I sure can’t get a McMuffin at S’bucks! I’m beginning to wish this wasn’t so “out of my way.”

Growing up at McD’s, I never knew anything but red and yellow color splashed all over a canvas of white fiberglass seats and stainless steel countertops. An air tank cleverly disguised as a guy named “Ronald” would blow up a balloon for me. What is going on in the world of Filet-O-Fish and the Hamburgler? Maybe they are realizing something the people of God have known for thousands of years. They way things look communicates something. I mean, even the Playland here is “up-scale” with a rustic rough stone and lodge pole feel. Do these kids realize what they have?

Halfway through my coffee and McMuffin, a group of local high school students enter. Among the most well behaved teens I’ve seen in a while, they prove to be louder than the rest of this morning’s clientele (what pre-tardy teens aren’t?). It seems as though they respect how nice this place is and as they begin to leave, I see each one cleaning up after themselves (what are the odds?). This has been a nice experience off my usual beaten path.

All this makes me wonder what people see when they encounter places of worship. I’ve been around church buildings all my life. Most of which I don’t recall, but some are etched in my memory for good. Aromas, art, sound… some made profoundly positive impressions on me not just of architecture and finish, but of religious experience and of worship and, perhaps, even of God Himself.

Growing up in a fellowship where we apparently worked hard at making things look “plain, simple and functional” it was as if we traded one thing or something else. What could have been elegant light fixtures in the worship space were nearly always displaced by some type of simple 60’s pendant globes that had about as much personality as a cold leftover French fry. Religious art was, at best, a painted mural of a stream behind the baptistery. “Function over form” might be the most economic description of what I knew of church buildings growing up. What a long distance from “fiberglass booths and stainless steel countertops” this fast food restaurant has come. About now, I could really use another cup of coffee.

In the 65^th Psalm, David declares God will be praised in Jerusalem and that God’s people are filled with good things when they enter the house of the Lord (the Temple). There were occasions when God’s people didn’t put the effort they should have into the house of God (the Temple) (see Haggai for example). On at least one occasion they had to go back and get it right because they were putting more effort into making their own homes nice than they were the house of the Lord.

There must certainly be discretionary limits to décor, even in a house of worship. It doesn’t have to be gaudy, but it should be nice and intentional. Because when the place is nice, it makes a difference and it communicates something. Perhaps we should give more consideration toward, and put more effort into, what our “houses of worship” look like. If it mattered to God for the Temple, maybe it still does! What do you think?

I’m on my way to get a free refill on my coffee... now try that at your local “fancy coffee” place!