Ice Cream Churches and Velcro Christians

by Van Robison

Most people love ice cream and it obviously comes in more than thirty-one flavors. Churches, like ice cream, are often very appealing to the senses. It could be that your church is strawberry in flavor, or perhaps vanilla, or maybe butterscotch, or one of many other varieties of ice cream churches. The flavors are endless. What is it about ice cream churches that attracts millions of people the world over? And why do believers in ice cream churches stick to their pastors, priests, clergy, churches and denominations like Velcro?

It seems mysterious as to why people are attracted to various churches when the variety is without end. For example, why would anyone be attracted to the Mormon Church, or for that matter to the Jehovah Witnesses, or to the Roman Catholic Church, or perhaps Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Seventh Day Adventist, or any other flavor of ice cream churches? Not always, but very often when anyone licks a particular flavor of ice cream, they are hooked on the flavor and if not, they may try a different flavor until they find one that satisfies. This is much the way searching for "a church" is in life. The taste of sweetness is very seducing.

Some ice cream churches are very attractive. They may be built with millions of dollars and be called "The Crystal Cathedral". When people enter their enticing doors they are awed by the beauty, and overwhelmed by the sense of "the sacred place". Some ice cream churches are architectural masterpieces and are very pleasing to look upon, and they give the worshipers a feeling of being overcome and speechless. The Mormon Church has built massive temples around the world, and especially in Utah, much like the Roman Catholic Church and the Vatican. But so also have modern day megachurches built multi-million dollar ice cream churches. Ice cream churches are hard to resist for many who come near. People want to lick that ice cream.

What happens when the ice cream melts? The ice cream churches crumble. They always will, and they always have. Original founders of all human churches some day meet their Maker. When that happens, new owners take up residence in those ice cream churches, and changes generally take place to satisfy the tastes of the new owner or owners who control the ice cream churches. Velcro Christians who are stuck to ice cream churches are subjected to melt down, and that is because without exception all human church leaders pass from this life, and change is inevitable. Sometimes that change is dramatic.

When Velcro Christians get sick and tired of ice cream churches and turn to the real, living Jesus Christ, there is never again an ice cream meltdown, because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He says, "I change not." And there is not a shadow of turning with our Creator.