Then And Now: Service Stations and Churches

In a former life, I worked for my father at an Exxon service station. My father started the business in 1964. Service stations once dominated the American landscape. You could find one on every corner in town. My father's was very successful. He built a strong reputation for dealing fairly with his customers and 44 years later that has not changed. What has changed is the nature of the service station business.

Cars have changed. They are building far superior cars compared to what we used to have. Now they can go 100,000 miles without anything done to them except basic maintenance, and they have made it more and more difficult for anyone other than their own dealerships to maintain them. Because of this trend, all the other stations in town have either closed or converted to c-stores (c for convenience.) At age 80, my dad is running the last service station in Kingsport. Dad caved somewhat some years ago and put in a few coolers in order to sell more soft drinks, bottled water and sports drinks, but he is the only place in town that can change your oil, fix a flat, sell tires, replace belts, hoses, do tune-ups and other basic repairs, as well as, fill your car with gasoline all at one location.

However, the c-stores are the ones turning the profit. Why? They sell beer and cigarettes. In other words, they stopped offering the services that you and your car need and made it convenient to buy the things you want. I have been collaborating with dad on a new commercial that will run on our local cable that will drive home the idea that service still exists in our fair city. Hopefully it will help drive more business to him.

The reason I am blogging about this, in case you are wondering, is the correlation between the shift from service stations to c-stores and our churches, old and new. Nowadays people want their favorite style of preaching, their favorite style of music and their favorite style of children's programs all packaged together and offered at one convenient location AND at a convenient time. Sound familiar? Even in our churches, service seems to be a thing of the past. It has become about us rather than the coming together for the service of worship and service to others.

The key here is attitude. Is it all bout my being fed- or is it about a meaningful expression of worship and service to God and others? It is a question we all must ask ourselves so that we can keep from becoming something as a church we were never meant to be.