Once upon a time, there was a Christian who wanted to find a comfortable church — one that was just right. Her name was Goldilocks.
Goldilocks went to a church around the corner from her home. The pews were comfortable and the music was pleasant. People were friendly.
Unfortunately, a few weeks later, the youth led the service. They played hymns on guitars and performed a play about the Good Samaritan. They compared the injured man to the needy in her community. They talked about feeding the homeless. Goldilocks wasn’t sure about this. Nobody seemed interested when she suggested that the guitars were out of tune. The minister didn’t seem pleased when she suggested that the homeless might mess up the church. Suddenly the pews didn’t seem as soft as they had. Goldilocks decided to move on.
Goldilocks found a big new church. The people said “Amen,” a lot, but they seemed to mean it and the choir was nice. They told her they only used professional musicians to worship God. Goldilocks felt comfortable again.
Soon Goldilocks noticed some problems. The choir sang the same songs over and over. The pastor needed to stop making that funny, distracting movement to keep his glasses on his face. The Sunday school children were so disruptive when one was trying to pray! The choir director said he would be very pleased to add a new song if she had any in mind. The pastor laughed and said he’d watch his glasses. The Sunday school teachers promised to keep the children from getting so excited.
After a few weeks, more things went wrong. The choir director told her he couldn’t add all 50 new pieces she’d brought. The pastor told her he had no intention of getting contact lenses. The Sunday school teachers told her Jesus called little children to him and they weren’t going to keep the kids out of the church just because they talked a bit.
Time to move on again. This time, the church was several blocks away. It was big and old. The minister was witty (and she didn’t wear glasses). The choir director assured her that she never repeated a piece until at least a year had elapsed.
Again, Goldilocks started noticing things that bothered her. The words to the Lord’s Prayer were different. Sometimes they even referred to the Trinity as, “Parent, Child and Spirit.” She mentioned this to various people, but they just said she’d get used to the new ways. She didn’t.
This time she went halfway across town to a little church that was old and quaint. It was easy to sit and imagine one was in heaven.
Soon she noticed that some of the words they said were always the same. She asked the minister about this and he said it was called a liturgy. She suggested they jazz it up a bit. She also noticed that the building seemed older and less quaint than she’d thought at first. The walls in the church hall needed paint and the stairs had hollows where generations of worshippers had walked. Several people agreed with her and they organized a painting committee. Unfortunately the colour they used was a yellow. Goldilocks hated yellow. In a few weeks, the words in the service changed a bit. The minister said that was because it was Lent and the liturgy changed for the church season. Goldilocks didn’t like the way it changed.
For a while, Goldilocks watched church on TV. Some of the services were too excitable and some were too dull. Sometimes she didn’t agree with the sermon. Sometimes she didn’t like what the choir sang. Sometimes she just didn’t like the angle they filmed it on.
Eventually there was nothing left for Goldilocks to do but read her Bible alone. Goldilocks missed being with other people. After a while she found that there were things in the Bible she didn’t like, so she tried a different version. But the things she read were still the same even though the words were different. She was disturbed by Jesus’ friends. That Mary Magdalene might have been a prostitute! Matthew was a tax collector! What about that woman taken in adultery? She’d never noticed before what a bunch of misfits they were.
Goldilocks decided that the only way to continue was to talk to God. She told Him what she thought about the churches, the TV services and the friends Jesus had. First she waited for tongues of fire and a great loud roar. Then she waited for a still small voice. Obviously God wasn’t sure what to say to her about the mess.
At first she was angry. Then she began to feel lonely. She went back to the first church to ask the minister about it. The minister wasn’t there when she arrived, but one of the members was outside planting flowers. Goldilocks was about to walk away when she decided she just had to talk to someone.
At first the lady with the flowers looked surprised. Then she smiled. She introduced herself and said her name was Faith. Faith listened as Goldilocks talked. Finally Faith said, “I think God is telling you something. It doesn’t sound to me like anything was wrong with any of the churches. It sounds like the problem is you.” Goldilocks was so surprised she just stood there with her mouth open. Faith continued, “I don’t always understand everything God does either, but I know God cares. I also know that I’m not perfect and neither is the church. It’s made up of people like you and me. But I believe that God can work through us even if the building isn’t pretty, the music isn’t always what I like, the minister doesn’t preach like Billy Graham and the people are sometimes pigheaded.”
Goldilocks went home and looked at her Bible again. She noticed there were a lot of things in it about Jesus being a shepherd and looking after lost people. She wondered if she was lost and if God had sent her to Faith. Goldilocks decided to go back that Sunday. The organist hit a few wrong notes at one point, but Goldilocks was too busy thinking about the words to the hymn they were singing to notice. The pastor repeated himself a little during the sermon, but Goldilocks was so struck by his story about his trip to a local prison she didn’t really care. When they asked for volunteers to help hand out coffee to the homeless, Goldilocks volunteered. It was awful coffee, but talking to the people was wonderful. When she got home, Goldilocks felt good.
If you go to that church, you will find Goldilocks there. Ministers have come and gone, and Faith has moved out of town, but Goldilocks is still a member. The organ is broken, the church hall needs new paint, the kids are sometimes noisy and the coffee is still bad. But to Goldilocks, the church is a wonderful place full of love. It isn’t perfect, but she knows that even though she sees it in a mirror, dimly, there are still beautiful glimpses of the light of God all around.
