Originally posted Feb. 2, 2012, at Barefoot Pastor. Republished with permission of the author.
I’m at the Apple Store in a mall waiting for a new phone.
My phone speaker hasn’t been working right since the day I got it, and I finally realized I should get a new one. The friendly people are in the process of replacing it.
This place is hopping. Who knew this many people are in the Apple Store on a Thursday morning?
Judging by the sea of blue shirts, it looks like over half the people here work here. I was helped by a nice woman but my problem wasn’t resolved as quickly as she’d hoped.
Training sessions
She passed me off to someone else because she had to go to a training session. That’s right, a training session. She was professional and friendly. Communicated exactly what I needed.
When she handed me off, the new person also greeted me with warmth and invited me to come over and wait near him so he could keep an eye on me.
Back at church, we’re in the process of envisioning our new space and we’re always trying to figure out how to be more genuinely welcoming, how to connect with people appropriately and lovingly.
We have a lot to learn from these Apple folks, including that they have training sessions to make sure they know their stuff.
Yes, I know, I know that selling computers is different from welcoming people to church.
On-message and friendly
I know that there’s a message that the Apple folks need to convey without any deviations, and there’s probably disgruntlement among the ranks. Still, I admire the energy in here. I am impressed by the friendly professionalism.
And there are so many people in here. If my phone worked, I’d take a picture.
Everyone is in this store because they know what they want and they know where to find it. Some are just looking; some have appointments; some have very specific hopes for what they’ll find.
I have a feeling it would be easier for most people in the world to explain why someone would get up on a Thursday morning and go to the Apple Store than it would to explain why someone would get up on a Sunday morning and go to church. Hmmmm.
My waiting time is up — I’m going to get the help I came for. Peace and joy.
Find a link to Sarah Scherschligt’s blog Barefoot Pastor at Lutheran Blogs.
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Sermon interrupted
I agree totally with your comments. Your experience is mirrored in other situations where customer service is not even the issue. On Sunday mornings on the way to church, I often pass by our local LA Fitness (a workout gym for those of you who are not familiar with it), and the parking lot is packed. People who are attending to their physical health and not their spiritual health know what they are looking for and have found their needs met at the gym. They choose to get up early on Sunday to work out their bodies. Now some of those may also attend church that day as well, but I am skeptical. Too often the church is not viewed as a place that is essential for a healthy spiritual life, and I always wonder why. I guess if we could answer that question our churches and parking lots would be full as well.
The Apple Store is quid pro quo. You pay your money and get something concrete, something that makes you feel good. At the church, you are given grace, which sounds like a nice deal except most people don't believe they have done anything wrong that they need to be forgiven of. Or, you give everything, you recognize your absolute dependence on God and your need to serve Him, and you get nothing in return, at least nothing you can hold in your hand. And often all you get for your trouble is heartache! Apple just wants your money, and there is no commitement involved. Don't like your phone, there are other models available, even other phone companies. They're all pretty much alike. The church has but one unique message -- Christ -- and we can't modify him to fit the market. It's no surprise that people don't cotton to the church. Jesus got crucified and 11 of his 12 discples got martyred. Jesus might have done better with slick marketing and a different product -- works righteousness sells -- but then He would be our Savior, would He?
Chemnitz,
For all that Apple is motivated just by money, they've done a good job of making their place look enticing. Can't we who are motivated by the Gospel do better?
As to modifying Christ to fit the market, I think Apple also does a better job of professionally maintaining their message than does the church. Many pastors have spoken out against the CWA09 decisions after the fact, yet Apple managers who publicly speak out against Apple's decisions would get fired.
Peter, are you saying there is no rooom for dialog in the church? Can one not take exception to a policy established by an Assembly without fear of being "fired?" What about "bound conscience?" Isn't that the upshot of CWA 2009? Doesn't the Sexuality Statement allow for differing interpretations of the scriptures, all of which must be respected? Must we walk in lock-step the denominational party line or be defrocked? What would have happened if we had fired all the pastors who spoke out against the policy of the ELCA before CWA 2009? Judge not...
Personally, I am a little more concerned about feeding the hungry than making our place look enticing. I don't think Apple does nearly the charitable work the Lutheran church does.
Sarah, thank you for your thoughts. I think that at the heart of a lot of your experience @ the Apple Store was someone who was in a good place in their job who wanted to be friendly and help you out. Might there have been a financial motivation or professional encouragement angle to it? Sure, could have been. I tend to also try to look for things in the best possible light, so I think the person was genuine and trust your assessment :)
Recognizing that within the church and without we all have so many self-serving angles and methods, I still feel that you are right. We need to work with each other to not only vision a more open and welcoming space, but we need to do a much better job embracing the people that not only come in our doors, but more importantly, feel too lost or broken to grace our doors. Grace cannot be contained in a building and it cannot be legislated to the masses in one simple way. It is active, thriving, life-warping, and on the loose.
I'd like to think that there is a way for someone to want to get up on a Thursday morning or Sunday morning and take God to work with them in their living, speaking, and moving even more so than just one or the other.
Chemnitz,
There's plenty of room for dialogue in the church. Prior to decisions being made, there's also a lot of dialogue within companies. My point isn't so much that we should "fire" all of the dissidents, but that it's only in the church that members of an organization can openly deride that organization without repercussions. I think specifically of the "dissenting statement" released by 3 members of the Sexuality Task Force. That was unprofessional, since they acted outside of the taskforce. Their opinion was contained within one of the two dissenting positions published with the sexuality statement. That kind of action would get you fired in the professional world.
Also, while the CWA decisions do protect people's right to disagree on ordination of those in same-gendered relationships, it does not protect their right to advocate schism or disagree in ways that are best described as "hateful". (for sure, there's unprofessionalism on all sides... events at the Indianapolis CWA come to my mind; I'm sure you have examples as well). My point isn't that everyone needs to march in lock-step, but that employees of secular companies support their companies better than those saved by Christ support their church.
As to charitable giving, it looks like Apple has recently given $150 million, and is looking into improving working conditions in other countries that make some of their products. Looks like the entire LWR budget is ~$42 million. The ELCA income for 2010 looks to be ~$84 million. So maybe enticing people in is a reasonable first step to charitable work.