TLDR: What is appropriate and inappropriate in worship is an important question to ask, but one with few clear answers.
The week’s Twitter(X) flare up came courtesy of this tweet by pastor/speaker/author John Piper:
Disclaimer 1: I greatly appreciate John Piper’s writing and speaking ministries and have grown through them.
Disclaimer 2: I am HUGE coffee fan.
Disclaimer 3: I drink coffee during worship gatherings. I’ve even been known to eat on occasion.
OK. With those important caveats out of the way, I can certainly understand why people responded the way they did to Piper’s tweet. Many saw an opportunity for a little fun and took advantage of it (I posted this tweet and this tweet in this spirit). Some appreciated Piper for asking the question and prompting introspection. Others saw this as permission to disparage coffee-drinking in worship gatherings. And still others took offense at Piper’s question and what they believe was implied legalism.
A Few General Thoughts
I won’t pretend to know Piper’s thinking, but it strikes me as an odd tweet from him. After all, this is the same guy who wrote an incredibly helpful piece called “How to Drink Orange Juice to the Glory of God.” While the subject of that article isn’t worship precisely, it’s about how we can drink orange juice to God’s glory by doing so with gratitude. That’s at least adjacent to worship. If we can drink orange juice with gratitude as a means of thanking God for His provision and proclaiming His glory, it sure seems reasonable to me that we can do those things in a worship gathering, even with a coffee in hand.
The second thing I found interesting about Piper’s tweet was his quote of Hebrews 12:28. Again, Piper didn’t expand on this tweet to my knowledge, so we have to guess at his intention, but it seems as if he was (a) suggesting coffee drinking hinders reverence and awe and (b) assuming “worship” in this verse must be a corporate worship gathering. I’m not sure a strong case can be made for either of those.
But even if we were to see Hebrews 12:28 as speaking to corporate worship, that leads to another problem with what Piper seemed to be saying. The early church, after all, would gather and eat full meals as part of the Lord’s Supper, what many see as the most holy act of worship we can offer. So basically, the inference is that for the early church:
Eating + Lord’s Supper = Worship
but that for the modern church:
Coffee + Preaching/Singing ≠ Worship
A third thing I found curious was the singling out of coffee drinking, or “coffee-sipping” as Piper called it (a term that seems curiously inflammatory, but that could just be me). Why not water drinking? Gum chewing? Mint sucking? Why not phone scrolling? Bulletin reading? People watching? Where is the line drawn?
My Two Cents
To me, unless something is distracting others (e.g., setting up an omelet station in the third pew) or is done with the wrong heart, we need to give a wide berth here. This is an issue of individual conscience first, and the desires of a local congregation second. If someone sees coffee drinking as inappropriate for worship, then he or she should not drink it. If a congregation agrees to that and wants to disallow coffee drinking in their gatherings, that’s their freedom in Christ. But once we step into judging whether coffee drinking is or is not conducive to reverence and awe for all believers, we have pressed too far. How those are defined and how “worship” is defined isn’t clear to me.
Furthermore, it’s instructive that Jesus spoke of eating the Lord’s Supper with Him in the kingdom (Mark 14:25), and feasting and worship, even in heaven, are paired in the Bible quite often (Ps. 23:5; Is. 25:6; Luke 13:29; 14:15, Luke 22:19; Rev. 19:6–9). So basically the inference is:
Eating with Christ in Eternity = Reverent
But:
Coffee Drinking in Worship ≠ Reverent
I’m sure this isn’t anyone’s intent, but it sure seems that contemporary worship gatherings are held in higher regard than being in Christ’s presence.
Two Implications for Kids and Student Ministries
So, what does this have to do with anyone in kids or student ministry? Here are two takeaways:
First, how might this thinking of “worship,” “reverence”, and “awe” by some in the church—including perhaps on a ministry team—affect your worship times? It’s quite likely that kids and students will eat and drink things (e.g., goldfish given as a mid-service snack), wear things (e.g., hats and shorts), and do things (e.g., play games on stage, dance) that others would find troubling if they saw them. Even if no one has ever shared concerns, it would be wise to be ready with an answer to any objection raised. We should be ready when someone asks, “Can we reassess whether Sunday goldfish eating in kids worship fits?”
Second, to the point Piper seemed to want to make, it should indeed prompt us to consider why we do all we do. Are there any ways that we might “cheapen” worship of God? Do we ever do anything with a utilitarian mindset rather than one that seeks to glorify God? I see a lot of gray areas here. I think there are more questions than answers. But it’s an ongoing conversation ministries should have.
brian dembowczyk 