wanting our "oughts"

I can now add The Gospel According to Starbucks to my have-read pile. And like many other books I've read before, Leonard Sweet had a lot to say about what he thought was wrong with the church. And he's not the only one. Rather traditional or emergent, a lot of people aren't content with the state of the church today. And everyone seems to have a pretty ardent opinion with what's wrong with the church.

But they all seems to be missing one point: the church is not a building or an institution; it's the body of Christ. You can go on and on about what the church is doing wrong and how it needs to change, but until the individuals that make up the body of Christ change, you're wasting your breath.

Also, the church will never be perfect and fit the needs of ever member of the congregation. One thing I've noticed in reading these different books is that everyone has their own idea of what would make the church better, and much like children, they are going to pout and fuss until it pleases them (or straight out leave the church). But a part of being an adult is realizing that things can't always go your way and compromising.

I'm not saying that there isn't a lot about church that does need to change...but it starts in the hearts of the congregation, not in matters of doctrine versus experiential lifestyles. But going to church and expecting it to meet every one of our expectations for what church "ought to be" is ridiculous. And unreasonable when you think of trying to cater to the individual needs of an entire congregation.

The Gospel According to Starbucks failed to inspire me to adopt Sweet's vision of the church. He gave a lot of his opinion, but very little application. It also didn't help that I'm not a fan of Starbucks (though I did visit a Starbucks in downtown Kyoto...they had a very tasty chicken salad sandwich). Still, I'm not sure if a coffeehouse franchise is an appropriate example for what the church ought to be.