I (heart) my Church: an unexpected social experiment.

Warning:  Kind of opinionated but of course that doesn't mean I'm right or perfect.  And if you live outside of the Bible belt, half of this won't make a lick of sense.  Oh wait... if you live outside the Bible belt, do you know what "make a lick of sense" means?  

I love baseball.  I love Nascar.  I love the Braves.  I love the city.  I love my husband.  I love my  mom.  I love my dog.  I love my church.

Just kidding.

I don't really love Nascar.  And I'm indifferent towards the Braves. 

This past Sunday at our church all the volunteers wore a shirt that had been given to us:

Wait.  Let me first explain our pastor.  He is... ummm.... well.... how do I describe him?  Unapologetic.  He says what he knows to be true according to the Bible.  Whether it's popular or not, that's up in the air.  But that's not what he's concerned with.  Sometimes he says things that shock me, but mostly he says things that I've always thought, but never vocalized.  He also explains things.  He doesn't just say things for shock value.  He has a reason and a meaning behind it.

I digress.  Where was I?

Oh yes.  I love my church!

So Josh and I showed up wearing our new favorite shirts, proclaiming that we, in fact, love our church.  Now, it must have looked a bit odd to the members of the Spartanburg Kennel Club as they shared the Carolina First Center with us on this particular Sunday.

I heard a lady from the kennel club say a comment about church while we were walking through the parking lot, but I didn't think anything of it.  After all, it'd be like me saying something about the dogs.  Just a normal convo.

But as the day went on, things got weird.

One thing Perry said was that loving your church is not normal in America today.  Never thought of it that way, but I agree.  Liking or tolerating your church is more normal.  I have a few friends that can't hardly stand their church, but whether for family or community reasons, feel like they can't leave.

So fast forward a few hours and we're at Costco.  As much as I hate to admit it because of all the consumerism in America, I love Costco.  I can get really fresh veggies for really cheap.

Okay, so Josh and I must've looked a little weird in our matching shirts, but I was amazed at a comment that I heard as I looking for cereal.

It wasn't exactly a positive comment.  I suddenly got self-conscious.  Had I been rude to her?  Did I cut her off with my buggy (grocery cart, for the northerners)?  Was I not smiling enough?

I quickly realized that we were in an experiment that we didn't even know existed.  We were the crazy people who love our church and weren't hiding it.

Would I think someone was a little cookoo if I saw them wearing that same shirt around?

But just one question... do you really, really love your church?  Do you still go there?  Is that why you stopped going?  Do you look forward to it every Sunday (or Saturday, or Thursday, or whatever day it meets)?  Or do you simply tolerate it, or go because your family goes there.  Or because you don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.