November 23, 2009
Super God
Because it was once a restaurant and bar, the interior of our church is pretty non-traditional. Probably the best way to describe it is to say it has the ‘feel’ of a lodge. However the woodsy paraphernalia hanging on the walls and displayed on shelves are now sharing space with a few Christian symbols and art work. The décor really is very eclectic. High up in the foyer there is a large wooden cross spray painted gold and illuminated by a spotlight. The arms of the cross are cloaked and draped with a purple swath of cloth. Looking up at the cross my four year old granddaughter Lydia said, “Look…that cross looks like a Super Hero Cross!” Well…yes it does.
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Gail;
-----Jesus upbraided the cities where His mighty works had been done, then He said, “I thank Thee, Father...that Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes...Come to Me...and learn...” (Matt 11:25&28-29) Jesus answered His disciples’ question about who would be greatest. “And calling to Him a child, He put him in the midst of them, and said, ‘...unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom...’” (Matt 18:2-3) But Paul wrote, “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways,” (I Cor 13:11), “...we are to grow up in every way into Him Who is the head,” (Eph 4:15). And the author of Hebrews wrote, “...for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the Word of righteousness, for he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their faculties trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.” (Heb 5:13-14).
-----I was confused for the longest time about these scriptures. Were we to come to Him like children? If so, what then was this putting away of childish things? Eventually I realized that we can not know Jesus before we truly do know Him. Although we may think we do, we only know Him when we have actually learned Him. But to learn Him, we must not come presuming we know Him. We must come like children, for neither do they know something, nor do they presume to know it. So, they are teachable; they get taught, and they grow up. Notice again, after Jesus told His disciples they must come as children, He told them to learn from Him.
-----Once, I attended a church in Grand Junction having much different visual effects than yours. I stepped into the foyer and was amazed at its size. It was much like the broad, covered space of a mall. There were tables and chairs laid out in a casual, disarrayed fashion before what appeared to be a coffee shop. And past that area I could see a bookstore. Immediately in front of me, standing alone in its own open space, was a very large reception desk. And to my right were the obvious doors of the auditorium. The auditorium was quite obviously just that. Nothing of its decor, nor of the foyer‘s decor, smacked as that of a church or spoke of a risen Lord held up for worship. Those who failed to adorn this church obviously did not want any unspoken messages to confront mistaken ideas held by seekers coming there, as if to silently say, “We do not challenge your misperceptions. We respect your learning. Come not as children.”
-----I like the lighted cross at your church a whole lot more than I liked the ambiguity of the other church. Lydia’s reaction to the cross certainly demonstrated how something similar could have been useful there. It is like the water to which you must lead a horse. In maturity you lead him to it. But to drink, it is for the horse to be the colt.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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