Coffee Evangelism

I'm a German, living and working in the UK. We Germans have strange habits, such as eating "hard, heavy bread" and drinking "strong, black coffee". When it comes to coffee, I am not willing to make compromises. I especially love the all famous (at least in Germany :-) ) Senseo coffee pads (no worries, I am not getting paid to say this). Nothing compares to the fragrance that spreads around the room when the coffee slowly fills the cup. Once the cup is full, the creamy top just invites you to take the first sip while being flooded with the delicious aroma and taste. I just LOVE it! After one cup, all tiredness is gone, I feel refreshed, satisfied and a biiiig smile settles on my face. Oh yah, that is what good coffee can do. It gets even better if I am able to share the coffee with a close friend, having a nice chat, talking about the silly or deep things of life.

As there is a Senseo coffee machine in the office (God MUST have inspired someone to buy it JUST for me in advance, I am the only one who is using it), I am always going to the Marketing department, getting my treat for the day. And as the weeks went by, I slowly got more people wanting to have a "real" good German coffee, not this instant, tasteless stuff... The good stuff!!

What made people want to try my coffee? They wouldn't know in advance how good it is! And what makes them want to have more once they tried it?

Well... This is what we call "coffee evangelism"! First there is someone, doing something odd. Using a weird looking machine. What would that be for? And these strange coffee pads... Hm. Then, when the coffee is prepared, they smell the aroma... Hmmmm. Wow!! That smells just wonderful! So intense and good and... then they see what's in my cup. Looks delicious too. Creamy top, tempting. And then they see the effect the coffee has on me. Puts a biiiiig smile on my face, revives me, refreshes me, gives me this special look in the eyes... And if I just add a few comments about how much I enjoy it, they're nearly there!

And when they are tired in the morning or after a heavy lunch, all I need to do is remind them that I have this really delicious coffee that would surely wake them up and help them - besides the fact that it is sooo yummy!

Finally, the first colleague said: "Ok, I'll try." And she tried. And said: "Hm... You were right. Wow. It's so good!!" And of course I had to prepare an extra coffee for her the next day! And this is how it really happened, in the end I needed to prepare coffee for quite a few colleagues, but I was happy to do so, because I knew the coffee would do for them what it did for me.

Sounds a bit overdone to you? It's just coffee!!

Well, absolutely right. But I am pointing something out here!

This is how it's supposed to work with us Christians, too! Spreading the sweet aroma of Jesus! The fragrance! Showing what Jesus does in our lives, how He affects us and how He helps us and puts joy into our hearts. Adding some words of truth and encouragement in the right moment... And be sure people are going to be drawn by what we have!