There's a possibility that this will come across very choppy since I'm at the state library trying to multi-task, but hopefully my point can come shining through regardless. At the begining of the semester in PoMo class the statement was made that "there are all types of churches for all types of people". The more I think about this statement, the more I agree with it, as long as a church is being the Church.
Yesterday we got into a discussion about the practicality of Cathedrals in Life in the City. Just because I'm feeling like saying controversial and because I still don't know what I feel about it, what if God likes Cathedrals. What if God likes the fact that we actually have enough reverence for him to build him something lavish. What if it's like raising hands in worship, an expression of a love and awe that we have for God that is too grand to put into words. God wanted a temple built for him in the OT, but that's right, we totally disregard the OT now.
I'm not saying that we should pour all of our money into a building, I'm just saying that we've totally lost the idea of the holiness of God that demands our respect. We've made the Trinity into our best friend. When we relate this to human relationships, we feel like we know God so well that we don't have to be in awe of him, or say thank you. Because he's our buddy, he just knows. That may be true, but what if he yearns for us to express our respect and love of him in some way. And maybe for some people that's a building that speaks to his grander. All types of worship expressions for all types of people.
That doesn't excuse us from using our resources poorly, but I feel too often the reason we criticize other churches is because we are jealous of them or are scared of them. All types of ministers for all types of people, as long as they are preaching the word accurately why does it matter? I am NOT advocating for the pulpit to be a place to preach whatever you feel in the name of God, which I've heard way too many times in the past few weeks, but if its accurate then it will speak to someone. I was reading in John 12 today about Mary lavishly pouring oil on Jesus' feet and anointing him. How often are we like Judas, criticizing the Mary's of this world because we wanted to use that money for something else? Are we limiting God?