I was watching the NBA Western Conference Finals last night when a Chili’s commercial came on comparing one of their chicken sandwiches to a McDonald’s McCrispy. The whole ad centers around one idea: “Our sandwich is WAY BIGGER.”
I’ve seen the ad several times, and each time it feels strange. Why is Chili’s acting like McDonald’s is their rival? One is casual dining. One is fast food. One is trying to create an experience. One is trying to get you through a drive-thru in four minutes. Yet there they were… a sit-down restaurant with servers, appetizers and a full menu acting like they had finally conquered the king of the value meal. Honestly, it feels small.
Unfortunately it reminds me of the church sometimes. Too many churches have forgotten who the real competition is.
Churches criticize other churches, take shots at denominations, mock worship styles and compete over buildings, branding, sermon clips, attendance numbers and aesthetics.
Meanwhile, the actual mission field is overflowing with lost people who don’t know Jesus.
Jesus didn’t command the Church to outshine each other. He commanded us to shine in the darkness and to make disciples.
The real competition was never Third Bapticostal Presby-methodi-denominationless Church across town. It was never the church plant whose name may be confused with a marijuana dispensary meeting in a school It was never the mega church with LED signs and water slides to their baptistry.
The real enemy has always been the world, the flesh, and the devil.
Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood…” Yet many churches spend more energy criticizing fellow believers than engaging lost people. They spend more time trying to pull sheep from another pasture than reaching people who are spiritually dead. That’s not Kingdom multiplication. That’s just redistribution.
Paul confronted this same spirit in Corinth when believers started dividing themselves into ministry camps. In 1 Corinthians 3:4 he said “One says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another, ‘I follow Apollos’…” Paul’s response was essentially “You’re missing the point.” The mission is bigger than personalities, bigger than platforms, bigger than brands.
The harvest is still plentiful. There are broken marriages, addicted teenagers, lonely senior adults, anxious college students and spiritually lost families all around us. And while hell is fighting for souls, some churches are busy fighting over style points.
Imagine firefighters arguing over whose truck looks cooler while an entire neighborhood burns down. That’s what this feels like sometimes.
The Kingdom advances when churches stop seeing each other as threats and start seeing each other as allies on mission. Some churches will reach people your church never could. And that’s okay. It’s GREAT actually!
Paul even celebrated the preaching of Christ when motives weren’t perfect because the Gospel was still advancing (Philippians 1:18). That’s maturity. That’s Kingdom thinking.
The Church is at its best when we remember the mission. We are not competing for Christians. We are reaching lost people. We are not called to advertise our castles. We are called to advance His Kingdom.
Maybe the Kingdom would move forward faster if churches quit trying to prove why they’re “bigger than the McCrispy” and started focusing again on people who are spiritually dead, broken, hopeless, and far from Jesus.
Because the real battle was never in the family. The real mission is still out there. The mission is to reach people far from God before it’s eternally too late.
