SETH ROGERS

The doorbell rings and you still haven’t decided. Will they judge you for your choice?

Nope! Just hide the fact you had a choice!

No time left. You have to pick… do you serve them with Pot or K-Cup coffee?

I know that was a mean right hook to where you thought we were going together but I promise if you keep reading it’ll be worth it.

Megan and I love coffee. We have the classic coffee maker with a shiny big glass pot. But last Christmas we sold out and bought the luxurious Keurig or better known as K-Cup because of its individual coffee cup servings.

If we were bad before, we might have upgraded to the first class addict section.  But finding a support group should be easy!

A USA Today article reported that 83% of adults in the United States drink coffee.  America has voted! Or not. Consider this: only 58% of adults voted in the 2012 Presidential election which means “IN GOD COFFEE WE TRUST!”.

Re-read it: 8 in 10 people care more about coffee versus 5 in 10 people caring about who leads America.

8 in 10 people care more about coffee versus 5 in 10 people caring about who leads America.

With coffee being such a boss in our lives it would have been easy to predict the Berlin Wall like divide between pot and K-Cup coffee. Pot coffee has become the stuff in the corner during an oil change at Big Al’s* auto shop. K-Cups are served with cookies at the Mercedes dealership service center. Yes, cookies.

Why such stigma?

Because K-Cup coffee makes people feel like you love them.

It’s expensive and customized.

Expensive? There is a steep price difference per cup between the two. K-Cups are 275% higher per cup on average. Customized? Try tasting all of the 200+ varieties of K-Cup on the market. Everyone gets exactly what their palate desires.

In contrast, pot coffee is cheap and impersonal. One big ole cheap flavor for you all.

So, what do you serve people if you have both a Kuerig and pot coffee maker?

Are there certain people or groups that you won’t hesitate to break out K-Cups for and make it rain caffeine? And others that just get the ole pot?

Be transparent with yourself. Who gets what? And more importantly, why?

Be transparent with yourself. Who gets what? And more importantly, why?

Maybe, those who you value versus those you don’t. Or those who have something you want versus those without anything to their name.

Would you serve your boss the best? Yes, K-Cup yourself to that raise! How about the overbearing and nitpicky co-worker from the office? Re-heat the pot from last night!

The world would agree. Give people what they deserve because, well, you feel they deserve it.

But here’s the deal. As a Jesus follower, I have a different set of rules that He laid out to follow. He says give people what He thinks they deserve. Jesus came and said give everyone K-Cups. Everyone.

But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! … If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. – Matthew 5:44, 47

And when Jesus left He said it’s great that you give K-Cups to friends but you need to give K-Cups to crappy office co-workers, even the Dwight Schrute types of the world.

Okay, let’s correct that, He said give everyone K-Cups love. Everyone.

Jesus came and wrecked the world with love.

Jesus came and wrecked the world with love. Love can hurt. Shedding earthly values for those of the Universe Creator’s can cause tension and result in repeated failure.

One of the biggest hurdles we can face is finding value in others. The same type of value Jesus sees in us. We can try to justify our deficiency by playing the credentials game.

You say, “I’m a director at ACME Corp. so obviously Jesus saved me because of my value to the world. K-Cup coffee. But the annoying guy at work is just a mail clerk who delivers my mail to the wrong floor. Pot coffee.”

God replies, “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? #TBT” (I might have added the hashtag).

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?…” Job 38:4

He doesn’t see you as the director, the janitor, the lawyer, the junkie,  the baker, the trust-fund baby, the teacher, the hooker, the farmer, the failure, or the “insert all of our ways to categorize each other for personal satisfaction and jocking for social status”.

He sees you as… you. He deployed Jesus into the world, to wreck it with love, and capture your heart. He values you.

But it’s not just you he values. He values ALL of us. He loves ALL of us. He wants to capture ALL of our hearts.

So how can I get my heart aligned with how God’s values people?

It starts with a conversation. You may have some current or past issues that you need to talk with God about. You know, like how you “hate” that person who got the job you wanted?

Jesus is gonna say give them a K-Cup. That means praying for them and their family. For their life and God’s purpose for them.

Jesus is gonna say give them a K-Cup. That means praying for them and their family. For their life and God’s purpose for them.

Go through your “do not call” list, the people you do not call even if the house is on fire and they have the only water hose in town.

Pray for them too. Every day.

It may seem unnatural and awkward. That’s because it is.

Pray big. Pray bold.

*I meant no offense to any possible Big Al’s auto shops. In fact, if there is a local Big Al (who owns an auto shop) reading this article let me know. I will come to you for my oil changes!