Churches
This summer I attended an organ recital at a very old church. The recital was very impressive. I can’t read music or sing very well, but I do enjoy listening to music in the church.
As I listened to this recital, I also looked around the church taking in the sights of this historical place of worship. It’s not a large church, so it has four services on Sunday morning to accommodate worshipers. That’s a great idea!
Instead of constantly adding on to churches, or building larger churches, why don’t churches simply have more services and use the money they would have spent on larger or newer churches on ministries that change real-life situations for people?
Perhaps, this is one of the reasons this church has survived for so very long. I think, however, there are other things at work in this little church.
In the front of the church, there are five things that catch your attention—an altar table, a cross in the center, a large plaque with the Lord’s prayer on the left, a plaque in the center with the Ten Commandments, and a plaque on the right with the Apostle’s Creed. What would have made it perfect for me would have been an opened Bible on the altar table.
Nevertheless, it was an impressive sight. Simple tenets of my faith displayed before my eyes. How could one possibly forget why he or she was in worship after seeing these gentle, yet powerful, reminders and their words of the faith of so many?
With this in mind, I thought to myself, what do most folks see when they walk into church? Do they see things that remind them of the world, or do they see things that remind them of God, His love, His forgiveness, and His desires for them both now and for eternity?
In my faith tradition, the crosses in the churches I have attended have been plain crosses. I have worshiped in places where Christ is on the cross. I don’t think this is a bad idea either.
I think we sometimes forget what Christ endured on the cross for us. As for me, it is nice to be reminded from time to time that Christ was both on the cross and then came off the cross so that I might experience eternal life. I need to be reminded that my eternal life comes at a tremendous price. I should not take it lightly.
Some churches have stations of the cross. I like this, too. It is an even greater reminder of what Christ endured for us.
Some say symbols or objects in the church are a turn-off to modern people. Phooey! As long as we allow the church to become more like the world, the less the world will become like the people of God, and more importantly, like Christ.
If the way we do church today is so successful, why are fewer attending church? Perhaps people need reminding of the purpose of the church in a world gone awry. Churches with a little symbolism and reminders of the faith can only help.
That’s why I love churches that remind me of why I am in worship and why I have a faith in the Lord.