I like my coffee strong.
A
couple of times a week, I make a very large pot of “cold brew fork coffee.”
One pot will last me a couple of days.
You
probably understand the “cold brew” part. “Fork coffee” is
coffee that will hold a fork upright in the cup. (Er… it’s a
metaphor. It’s strong, but not that strong!)
I have friends who like more
modest coffee. And I have other friends who drink “why bother”
coffee: decaf with nonfat milk and maybe a sugar substitute. And I
have friends who really enjoy <gasp!> tea! Oh my goodness.
So yeah, I like something that other people – even people that I know and love – don’t actually enjoy participating in.
It’s amazing how that works, isn’t it? People are different. Who would have thought?
There’s another “brown brewed beverage” that I also enjoy. I had a pint of it the other evening, with a slice of pizza, with my sweetheart on our “date night.” I had an Oatmeal Stout. (It’s a kind of very dark beer.)
It’s a rare thing to find a good beer in these days. So many people are content with corporate beer (Budweiser, Coors, etc), and most of the beer nerds in my college town prefer IPA’s (India Pale Ale: strong & bitter, so that it could endure the sailing trip from England to India, way back in the colonial days).
Interestingly, I’ve seen men’s Bible studies going on in the particular micro-brewpub that she and I favor: believers are becoming less afraid of being seen with a beer. Or maybe they like the “edgy” vibe of being seen with a high-end micro-brew? I don’t know.
I like meat. Well, most meat. I’m not actually a real fan of “organ meat,” whether liver, kidney, heart, or whatever. I’ve had some that was disgusting. I’ve had some that was actually pretty good, but it’s still not my favorite.
I have friends who absolutely love chicken gizzards. And friends who really like liver-and-onions. And we’re still friends, despite that.
I know some people that really love large, corporate worship services, both mega-church and conference-type big ol’ worship events. My preference is for small gatherings: six or eight is a large group for me, but one-on-one over a cup of a brown brewed beverage or another.
Yet again: the things that bring me life are not the same things that bring other people life. Or you could say that the things that my brothers & sisters love may not be the same things that I love.
If I didn’t know better, I’d think that people are different from each other.
For example – and I don’t know if you’re aware of this – there were a few holidays we just passed. There will be some more holidays this year! Did you know that some people have different thoughts and feelings about that holiday than other people do?
We’re talking believers here!! Some believers believe that the holiday belongs to the devil and they want nothing to do with it!
And other believers look at the holiday as an opportunity to reach people who are pretty much unreachable the rest of the year.
Look, there’s a really solid answer that we can all live by, as long as we’re actually going to let other people be responsible for their own life choices:
You Do You. Let Them Do Them.
If you like the events surrounding these holidays, and you can keep your heart in line with our King in the midst of them, then go have fun! I know a guy that was real tight with God and he partied with tax collectors and hookers and “sinners?” He took a lot of grief for it from the religious folks of his day, but the religious spirit pretty much always works that way.
If you don’t like parties, or don’t like holiday food, or the relevant holiday colors or sundry holiday accouterments, then don’t celebrate them. You follow God according to your conscience, not according to someone else’s.
You do you. Do whatever works for you. Be real. Be genuine. And maybe be respectful.
My mentor said it this way: “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”