Shoney's

December 12, 2007

By Randy Mantik

While we were on the road in music ministry, there was a popular restaurant found throughout the Carolinas called Shoney's. It could be found just about everywhere. It was a homey, sit-down restaurant with good coffee, a decent menu and, according to my sister-in-law, Becky, a hot-fudge cake dessert that was to die for.

However, being on the road and having to eat out a lot, we had eaten at more than our share of Shoney's and eventually got to the point where we didn't much care to go there if we could help it.

One evening after a service, we were looking forward to a meal with the pastor of the church. He said, "I know this really great place to eat."

He seemed really excited about it so we were anticipating finding out what this wonderful restaurant was! After about 15 minutes of passing by some very nice eating establishments, we wondered if he was lost. Finally, after another long 10 minutes, we pulled into the parking lot of -- you guessed it -- Shoney's!

Of course, we said nothing to our host about having seen a little too much of that particular restaurant and we had a wonderful meal together. But we chuckled about it later and had to wonder why he thought Shoney's was such a big deal. There were some excellent restaurants within a mile or two of the church, but he drove all that way to get to one of the most common restaurants around. Perhaps having to drive a ways to get there had a way of adding to its allure; I don't know. It just seems that if something is too close to home it can't be that exciting!

It's like the people who have lived for years just a few miles away from Disneyland but have never once gone to the park. Yet people who live 1,000 miles away spend large amounts of time and money to get there. The basic thought seems to be that the further one has to go to get somewhere or to find something, the more important it must be!

Maybe you feel like we did when we were on our way to the "great restaurant" that turned out to be a boring, old Shoney's. Perhaps someone has said to you, "I know this really great thing you've got to be part of." Time goes by, and you get there and realize it sure wasn't as great as they made it out to be. In fact, it was pretty disappointing.

In our life of faith, I think sometimes we are looking for some huge event, some wondrous sign to validate our faith. But faith in Christ is really quite simple. We don't have to go to any special place. It is much nearer to us than we think. Paul expresses the simple truth this way:

"But the righteousness that is by faith says: 'Do not say in your heart, "Who will ascend into heaven?" ' (that is, to bring Christ down) 'or "Who will descend into the deep?" ' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? 'The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,' that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:6-9, NIV).

And the beauty of our salvation is it's simple accessibility in no way diminishes its infinite value. Don't overlook God's invitation to you!

-- Randy Mantik is senior pastor of Crossroads Church in Pembine, Wis.