What's This Really About?

Two restaurants with free wireless sit on the same block near our house.

• One is almost always crowded with people eating.
• One seems to be struggling and trying new things to lure customers inside. ("Free jazz on Tuesdays!" "Half price Angus burgers on Wednesdays.")

Both restaurants opened about the same time. Both offer simple sandwiches and salads. Both have booths and sofas. Both have made an effort to create a comfortable atmosphere.

• One has space to watch films, hold small gatherings.
• One has a fireplace.

But one has definitely become a hotspot and the other has not. As I've watched these two establishments get off the ground, it occurred to me that they are thriving or not based on what this is really about.

The Hotspot opens for lunch but I thought it was open for breakfast and invited friends to join me there one morning. When we arrived, we discovered that it was not yet open, but the staff still invited us to come in and have coffee or tea and hang out.

The Not-So-Hotspot was the place I tried to spend a monastery day once, working alone in a booth with my laptop. I ordered lunch and later ordered dessert, along with several cups of coffee (no free re-fills.) There were only two other customers in the place so it's not like someone else wanted my seat. But after about an hour, a man (the owner?) came by and asked me to unplug my computer because I was using too much electricity.

I've never been back.

What it's about for Hotspot: creating community, showing hospitality, making money. They even have a mission statement printed on the menu.

What it's about for Not-so-Hotspot: making money, surviving.

Do you see a pattern that might transfer to the church?

There are congregations who plan programs, set up activities, make simple improvements in order to "bring in more members" so that they can "make their budget." It's about a church surviving.

There are other congregations who try to create community, show genuine care for each other, and - certainly - sustain themselves but they do this so that more people can find community and care. It's about a church thriving.

So . . . off I go to Hot Spot on this Monastery Day.