I’ll admit that meat and chocolate don’t sound like a match made in heaven. In fact…it sounds pretty repulsive. Sweet and salty is awesome. Sweet and meaty? Not so much.

So who tried it first? It doesn’t matter. I tried it. I bought it in a store after a friend recommended it. So thousands at least have also tried it and thought it was awesome. That matters.

The funny thing happened when I tried it. It all worked. It wasn’t simply good, but it was always good. I suddenly didn’t get not liking it or thinking it was gross. I tried to get my wife to try it. No dice.

So here it is: bacon + chocolate = awesome. And the only way to get that is to try it. There are only two ways that will get you to try it:

1) Someone like me suggests it. And I do. It’s awesome!
2) You have the ability to appreciate complex relationships. The people that are able to recognize the potential benefits of surprising collaborations are often ridiculed and misunderstood.

It is important for our churches to understand the importance of unexpected connections. This means trusting both those that have experienced it and those that know it when they see it. This has important repercussions for the emerging church and the mainline churches, for evangelical churches and catholic ones. We all have the potential to be better through new collaboration and leadership.

So the deal is to find that bacon to make our chocolate that much awesomer. And if you think of yourself as a “purist” that likes your chocolate as is? Man, you don’t know what you’re missing. So take my advice: find it. Eat it. Tell me about it.

Oh, and how does it taste? Smokey.