Edification at Waffle House

I'll be honest: Waffle House used to scare me. I'm not sure what it was about those restaurants, but there always seemed to be something a bit frightening about them.

Regardless, I've changed my mind. Yes, most of the food can lead to heart attacks, but if you choose carefully you can manage to leave with just a bad case of heartburn. The key is self-control.

To the topic at hand. Today I had a great breakfast with a good friend of mine. We ate at Waffle House. I found that edification can take place even at a restaurant like this. We talked for about an hour and a half while we consumed our breakfasts. I'm pleased to say that I made it home safely. I'm not sure about my friend, but as far as I know his heart is still O.K.

Seriously, we had a great time together. We could have had fun talking about sports, politics, etc. I appreciate this friend because although he will talk about cultural things, he mainly wants to discuss how we can live more fully for Jesus Christ. He is humble and readily admits his faults. He looks to scripture to inform every aspect of his life. He challenges me because he is willing to defy cultural norms and even American church norms in order to be more biblical.

I was glad to be able to encourage him in some areas of struggle/difficulty in his life. He did the same for me. We also exhorted one another to live out what we read in scripture. Much of this particular discussion dealt with how to speak the truth in love.

My hope is that we were living out Hebrews 10:24, "And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works." I think we did. I know I came away from our time together feeling both edified and challenged.

So this thing we call edification can take place anywhere - even at Waffle House. I encourage you to take advantage of any time you have with other believers to edify one another. This is the primary reason for the gathering of the church. Let's strive to make edification be a natural, normal part of our lives.

When we are with non-Christians, let's love them and share the gospel with them. When with brothers and sisters in Christ, let's spend our precious time helping each other strive toward maturity in Christ.

May we grow so close to Jesus that edification becomes a natural activity that is part of our daily routines.