I passed a Sonic the other day. I’ve passed Sonics lots of times. Sometimes I even stop and eat at them.
This one was different, though. It was attached to a gas station. And there were no drive-ins. No car hops. You had to park & go inside, or use the drive thru. My knee jerk reaction was, “That’s crazy! You can’t be a Sonic without a drive-in!!”
But then it hit me. Is Sonic’s purpose to be a drive-in or to sell hamburgers and onion rings? Obviously, it’s the latter. And drive-in service is only one method of achieving that purpose. The geniuses behind this particular location were able to adapt their methods to their circumstances without compromising their purpose.
What a lesson for those of us in church ministry. Don’t exalt the program over the purpose. The method over the message. The style over the substance.
Strong love, strange peace.
