It appears that in the church there are two threads of thought which dictate what church should look like.
There are what we call the Shakers and Bakers, or the Holy Spirit Crunchers.
These are the glory junkies, those who can spend hours in the presence of God. They are the ones who get slained in the Spirit, and many a time manifest with the so called shaking and baking when God’s powerful glory hits infirm flesh.
They are the ones who love the Spirit’s gifts, speak in tongues, do the Holy Spirit crunches, run through fire tunnels, and laugh themselves into the tears of holy laughter.
The other camp are the coffee sippers. Many here equally love the Lord, may have not encountered the baptism of the Spirit and or spiritual gifts, and would rather sip coffee , discuss the Bible, have a quite prayer, three songs of worship, and go home
These two camps are at odd with each other.
The coffee sippers judge the shakers and bakers as weird and obsessed holy rollers, while the latter judge the former as unspiritual and lukewarm.
The problem as my pastor, Ralph Gomez says, is that many a time we visualize God as an “Either Or” God when in reality He is an “And” God.
Without doubt, there are foundations of the Christian faith, when the “and” can never be interjected, it will always be “either or.”
But in a number of matters dictating people’s behavior, God is more “and” than He is “either or.”
Jesus is both a shaker and baker as well as He is a coffee sipping God.
Most of the Bibles great characters were Shakers and Bakers.
I am both a shaking and baking as well as a coffee sipping Christian.
I love the manifestations of the Holy Spirit.
I implement all spiritual gifts.
I love holy laughter. I’ve seen God heal people through it.
I love to see when God powerfully touches people with His power and they fall down.
But I also love to be with folks who might not appreciate this move of the Spirit and would rather discuss the Bible and go home.
I feel comfortable in both skins because God does.
People box God into their religious U Haul cartons. If you are a shaker and baker, you are weird. Or, if you don’t like the glory and manifestations, you are unspiritual.
My way is right, while your way is wrong
Looking at these views of God as “either or” is incorrect.
On both sides you will marginalize yourself from brothers and sisters and miss out on how wonderfully God moves with both.
God is neither a shaker nor baker or is He a coffee sipper. God is both.
I am blessed that I feel joyous in with both streams, though I consider myself more of a shaker and baker.
If the church would adopt more of an “and” mentality with the divergent thoughts of their brothers and sisters when it comes to how should church look like, not only can we go we could go further in Christ’s body, but enjoy the fullness of what our Heavenly Father has to offer in both.
Jose and Mary Alvarez 