Pillars ... another way to hold up the ceiling?

As I sat through the revival service I was a bit perturbed. I was stuck right behind a pillar and I could not see the speaker. I leaned up, back, left, and right, pretty much attempting anything I could to look around this stupid blockage. The Preacher made a facial expression and everyone laughed … but not me … I couldn’t see his face. Only his left ear and a bit of his collar could be viewed from my vantage point. Now don’t get me wrong, it was a nice pillar (for you folks in the south that really is Pillar, like the structure that holds up the ceiling, not the thing you lay your head on at night.). As older pillars go I’m sure it was a sturdy one as well. However, it was really impeding my view of not only the speaker but much of the stage, choir, and cross as well.

Now I like pillars just as much as the next guy. They are functional, pretty, sturdy, and they keep the ceiling from falling in. However, what if there was another way? What if we could throw in a flying buttress or something? Isn’t there some other way to hold up the ceiling without encumbering the sight of everyone behind it? Granted the people that had been there a while had gotten used to it, perhaps even their grandparents had paid for it to be erected when the sanctuary was expanded. I don’t really know what all the logistics were for this particular obstruction, all I know is it was in the way. These objects had held up the ceiling for a long time, but it didn’t look like they were changing, or moving anytime soon.

How many times do pillars in the church show up? Those things, doctrines, objects, or people, which may have held up the ceiling for a long time, but now, are impeding the view of others, and perhaps even the progress of the Gospel.

I’ve seen so many of my friends entering ministry for the first time and the run directly into a pillar. Perhaps they want to move youth group from Wednesday night to Thursday. One wanted to use a projector instead of the “youth hymnals” that someone’s parents had invested in. One suggested that his students research the multiple interpretations of Revelation … that didn’t go over very well. How about using a video series instead of preaching all of the time? NOT IN THIS CHURCH!

Oh let’s be honest though, this isn’t a new thing. A preacher friend told me he almost got voted out of a church because he used candles for advent and that was “too catholic.” Or perhaps the pastor that put the cross up in front of the pulpit and the decorating committee got mad because the cross “didn’t’ fit the décor.” These types of things make me want to scream “ISN’T THERE A BETTER WAY TO HOLD UP THE CEILING?!?”

It’s sad to watch old buildings be torn down. Recently I walked through the gutted student center at OCU (formally CBC). I had some great memories in the building, and I was sad to see it torn down. But when I turned around I saw a massive structure now dwarfing the old one. This was the new ministry center, and for it to be built, the other had to go.

Dr. Keith Drury wrote an article once that you had to decipher what to write theology in. You see some theology and doctrine is important but can be changed, that stuff is written in pencil. Other stuff was written in ink, it can be blotted out, but only after much more thought and deliberation. The final category was blood. There is some theology that is written in blood and should not ever be changed or taken away.

Is it possible that not only doctrine and theology, but church practice, church function, and maybe even people, are put into these categories. Are hymnals a pencil issue? Is carpet color even on the radar? Is communion an ink or blood? And more so is there really someone that your church can’t live without? Does the time come when the pillars in the church need to step aside?

Thoughts?

I am not, but I AM is

So I realize that I’ve been slacking hardcore, and I want to apologize. I have however been working on my thoughts on Peter so I thought I’d give another installment.

“Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were troubled saying “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. But Immediately Jesus spoke to them saying “Be of good cheer it is I; do not be afraid.”

The fourth watch of the night is someplace between 3:00 AM and 6:00 AM. If the feeding of the 5000 had happened around 6:00 PM the evening before, the disciples had been rowing for perhaps six to nine hours! The had to have been totally exhausted, for they had rowed “many furlongs” away from the land (each furlong is about 2 football fields) and still had much to row. And then out of nowhere an apparition starts moving its way across the water towards them. And the passage says “and they were troubled.”


I can remember my first “horror flick.” I was 16 years old and a group of us wanted to watch Scream. It was the big hit that year and anyone that was anyone was watching it. Yes I realize that I wasn’t 17 yet, and yes I realize I had been forbidden to watch these types of movies, and especially if I was not yet of age. So with much guilt, yet excitement, we turned it on. The first scene is still burned into my brain: the girl making popcorn, the phone rings, that raspy voice asking “what’s your favorite horror movie.”

I even remember that I was laying on the top part of the couch because there wasn’t enough space to go around. Slowly the plot started to weave its way through, mystery here-murder there, slow scary music sprinkled as appropriate. Each of us only left the room to grab a quick Mountain Dew, or to release one we had partaken of earlier in the evening. Suddenly, the movie took a turn, the girl was running away, the killer hot in pursuit, the music starts to climax and there is a knock on the window beside me!!!

I scream; flip off of the couch (busting my lip and bruising my arm) and take off up the stairs (typical scary movie move, going upstairs when I should be going out the front door). Now we all know what happened … I don’t even have to tell you, one of the guys thought it would be funny to scare the others. However, for the rest of the night I was convinced that there was something out there. My brain started playing tricks on me. Every movement was a killer, every sound a monster, every light a threat to my very existence.


That, I believe, is the state of the disciples as we enter into this part of the passage. They are tired, their arms are hurting, their minds are weary, and they look to see something walking towards them. They were more than troubled. They were petrified, horrified, stupefied, any other “--fied” that means freaking out! As if their problem of the storm wasn’t bad enough there is a ghost out to get them. And then come these words …

“It is I; do not be afraid.” Or perhaps translated “I AM!” This was more than just a simple “Hello” this was a declaration that God had come upon the scene.

We can go back to Ex 3:11-17. Moses is about to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt and he asks God what He is to tell the people when asked “what is the name of this God?” And God responds “I AM WHO I AM.” You will tell them “I AM has sent me to you.” Once again a declaration has been made. This name is wrapped around the verb “to be”. The “present one” the one “who is.” What an exhilarating thought to the Israelites, their GOD is present! Even in Egypt “He is!” Even at their low times, their tough times, their times of fear and persecution “He is.” And at the times that we are not strong enough “I AM is.” And when things are going crazy and we don’t know who is in control “I AM”. When waves are crashing down on us and our boat is being tipped and we don’t know who is strong enough to keep us moving forward, “I am not, but I AM is!”

So Christ walks out, the very problems that seemed over their head were now laying at his feet. Those monstrous waves looked little more than a kiddie pool. The wind was nothing more than a soft breath. For God had shown up. Life is not easy, especially when things get out of control and I’m at my lowest points, and I don’t know who can help. I have found that I cannot … but I AM can.