As I prepared last week for my trip, i again experienced some difficulty finding a hotel room. Finally i had several offers before me and quite naturally, as they were all in the same category, I selected the one with free wifi connection. I am a good hotel guest, very undemanding; despite my life long love affair with tea, i forgive the lack of tea things in the room, i forgive the lack of dressing gowns (bathrobes for the americans) and bedroom slippers, but not free wifi. To think that some hotels still charge you for wifi connection whereas the cost to them is next to nothing.
The point is that wifi is now widely availaible, it is no longer a luxury item or a scarce commodity. So when a hotel charges top euro for it, i am forced to the conclusion that either its management is antediluvian or cares nothing for customers’ comfort and well being, and is only interested in squeezing the last cent out of them. It shows a thin mindset. At that price level, eking out the last euro on wifi is grossly indecent. I increasingly give such hotels a wide berth save in case of absolute necessity.
Well it set me thinking about church, and about the things we do. Are there perhaps things that would cost us little but would go a long way to improving the worship experience of our guests? Are therethings we refuse to do which would help them better understand the gospel we preach and feel more comfortable among us?
Are there things we hold very tightly to, (eg wifi charges), that are NOT non-negotiable biblical values, (for instance i would not ask for free rooms, it’s their ‘core business’, will not tamper with that) , but which would hinder those who do not know Christ from coming to Him?
From my perspective as a frequent traveller it seems fairly obvious that wifi charges are passé, and absurd , but apparently not to the guilty hotels. Are there any peripheral elements in your organisation or your ministry that affect the way you are perceived and which at the end of the day could adversely affect your ability to expand your reach, yet would cost little to change?