I sat in my usual spot towards the back of church and scanned the assortment of noggins in the sanctuary…an odd landscape made up of some familiar, some new, some young, some old, some colorful, some hairless…and was amazed at the diversity that exists within our sanctuary on a Sunday morning. And while the rear cranial region of the human body isn’t necessarily pleasing to look at, I felt this overwhelming peace as I witnessed the wonderful and beautiful work of God’s mastery, perfectly bringing together the most unique set of tools imaginable to magnify, multiply, and bring glory to His kingdom. Then I began putting names and faces to the heads I could recognize and smiled as this beautiful portrait began to piece itself together…with her heartache, his addiction, their financial burdens, that broken family, this one suffering from recent loss... Similar to the wall image that uses thousands of pictures to create the one larger image, the view of the church is all too often skewed when approached with singular focus. In other words, if you base your opinion of this church or that church on this person or that person, you’re missing the bigger picture! You have to take a step back to truly witness God’s perfection as a whole and what His intentions are for His church. “In the same way a mosaic is made up of broken, ragged, and dirty pieces of glass, so the church is made up of broken, ragged, and dirty people. But when you zoom out and see the whole picture, you see something beautiful. Broken people living life together is a beautiful picture.” [Jefferson Bethke]
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 21:52:31 +0000