Chicken Dinner Churches

Chuck Swindoll tells a story about a man living in Atlanta who was flipping through the Yellow Pages in search of a restaurant. He noticed an entry for a place called The Church of God Grill. His curiosity got the best of him and he dialed the number. A man answered with a cheery, "Hello! Church of God Grill!" He asked how the restaurant had gotten such an unusual name. "Well,” the man answered, “we had a little mission down here, and we started selling chicken dinners after church on Sunday to help pay the bills. People loved the chicken, and we did such a good business, we found ourselves needing to shorten up our church services in order to get enough dinners ready on time. After a while we closed down the church altogether and just served chicken dinners. We kept the name we started with, and that’s Church of God Grill.”

I love this story although when I first read it as an associate minister, I said there is no way this could happen. How can you become a "Chicken Dinner Church"? The wonderful world of being an associate minister, all knowing and completely naive all at the same time but changing seats has taught me so much, this can and does happen. It is amazing how much we do in church that has absolutely nothing to do with what God intended the church to be and leads us into becoming "Chicken Dinner Churches"

Sadder than that, it is amazing all the things we as pastors do and are expected to do that have nothing to do with the primary calling that God has placed on our lives, in effect; turning us into "Chicken dinner Pastors". We are everything from church firefighters, policemen, parliamentarians, veterinarians who heal the sheep that keep running into the fences that are meant to protect them and healing the goats and rams that keep head butting each other.

We serve as blue ribbon judges in sweet potato pie eating and baby kissing contests; serve on ceremonially appropriate dog and pony show civic committees that look good but affect no real change for the overall community except to serve as photo opportunities for politicians who have no real concern for our members except to lynch and fleece.

We serve as MC's for wedding ceremonies that have nothing to do with Jesus or covenant relationship building, or the providence of God but rather is just a prelude for the party later where drunken revelry and immoral behavior will become the garments worn by people who have taken off the Armor of God and replaced it with the"sinful suits of Satan".

I am convinced that meetings are or can be used as a tool of Satan to take you away from your primary power which is connection to and through God. NO, all meetings are not of Satan but so many are unnecessary. Pre-planning meetings, post meetings, evaluation meetings, recommendation meetings, meetings about the meetings, sub-committee meetings, Gripe session meetings?! Not Vision Casting, Not God-Centered, Bible Based, Fellowship Orientated, Ministry Driven, Discipleship Development, just meetings. Nothing solved! Nothing gained! Nothing decided! Just discussing the Chicken Dinner!

Sadder than all of that, we live in a culture and climate that is satisfied with being a "Chicken Dinner Church". As long as the bills are paid, the budget is met, money is in the account, lights are on, life is good, but our call is greater than "Chicken Dinners". My call is greater than being a "Chicken Dinner Pastor".

I am reminded of what Jeremiah said 15:16, "When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God Almighty.

MY CALLING is to Preach and Teach. It is summed up in Ephesians 4:12-15.12to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. 15Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.


Why are we here? Why are we opening the doors of the church? What we have to offer is greater than Chicken! Thank God for Fishes and Loaves ministry but any group can feed people. Thank God for Good Samaritan Ministries that seek to lift up, restore and reestablish people who have fallen on hard times but any group can do that. Thank God for Titus women development ministries that seek to teach women how to act, walk, dress, carry and project themselves but the AKA's Delta's and Zeta's can do that.

What we offer as the church, NO ONE CAN DO. The government can't give what we can give, Grants can write it, country clubs can't entitle it, Congress can't create it, Sororities and Fraternities can't pledge it, The Armed Forces can't develop it, Colleges can't confer it. There is no place like God's Church.

To clean them up, dress them up, help them up and work to set them up without giving them Christ is to do everything except what our primary calling should be and in effect render us into nothing more than "Chicken Dinner Churches"!

Owens