what's the difference between coke and pepsi?

i have always been fascinated by "taste tests" and "food samples" - a good day is a saturday in sam's club eating all the samples. what i have always liked about taste tests is that i always go in thinking i can tell my favorite product from the one "i hate." i figure i know the difference, but i soon find out, i am so wrong. i remember taking one of those "pick your favorite cola" [remember them from tv?] and did i ever blow it. i knew i could pick my favorite [pepsi] and did you know, i did not - in fact, out of the three times i did the "test" i picked pepsi only once - heck, for a guy who grew-up in vegas, i can tell you those odds suck. there has to be a better way of knowing the difference?

there is, and it is called "marketing."

thank God for people who are ready, willing and driven to tell us what we are and are not to like. think about it, if it was not for marketing we would just buy the cheapest cola on the shelf and drink it; but they convince us that we need to spend that extra dollar [of five] on the same caramel color soft drink and call it a good day. the people who want us to think there is a difference between one cola and another are people who are trying to "sell" us the drink. look at the labels, what is in one is in the other; so the taste is not very different - in fact, i would say most people could not tell the difference between coke and pepsi - heck,most people could not tell the difference between churches.

i would bet [remember, i grew-up in vegas] that the average person in the church has no idea what the "difference" between their church and another church, say the one right down the street - and to be honest, i don't think they care. come to think of it, neither should theologians, pastor and other "leaders" of the churches; care about the differences. you see, there should be no difference - the idea of "what makes us better" are over. people are looking at the church, and are very confused with all the "differences" we profess as "leaders." they see this as just another way of "dividing the church." you see, to them there is no difference between coke and pepsi.

over the past i have heard many leaders in the church proclaim, "one God, one faith, one baptism" as if they truly meant it. but in reality, it is just hot air, they never mean it. what they mean is, "one God [as long as it is the way we define God], one faith [as long as it is a faith we approve], one baptism [as long as the method is to our approval]." i have met very few church leaders who truly desire to see this as a reality.

i believe people are striving to find who God is in their lives, and in the lives of others. in that, i have come to see that people are saying that if there truly is one God, one Jesus, one Scripture then we should all seek to find a way to express faith in unity with each other and not find differences. people, in side the church, are calling for people to work together; people outside the church are waiting for our actions to equal our words. yet they know, that as they seek ways that will unite the church, many of the "old guard" are holding fast to what they think are "differences."

not too long ago i was approached by a very sweet elderly women who thought what we were doing was just so needed in the church, and she wanted me to "get with the pastor" and do some stuff together. she was just so sweet, and so heartfelt that the church needed to be doing more of what we were doing at 247Connection, i did not have the heart to tell her that her pastor would not give us the time of day. now, the reason is not because we are emerging/evolving but because the denomination she belongs to has a "policy" that they only affiliate with churches in the denomination, and never outside the denomination. you see, even she knew there was no difference between coke and pepsi