A church of mirrors

This morning, Pastor Dean and I were talking about the large, ornate churches he visited in Europe and how different our church in the theater is. I relayed a story to him I heard on a radio show where a young man raised in a Protestant denomination with a father who is a preacher decided to leave the church and convert to Judaism. This young man felt that Christ's free gift of salvation for all who ask was too easy and he needed to do more. Now as a Jew he goes to his temple twice a day for at least an hour of ritualized prayer. This made him feel like he was doing something...like he was working for his salvation instead of working because of his salvation.

That got us talking. About the differences at RCC and some of these churches in Europe. When you have a huge ornate church that so many people visit there is a ton of work to do to support the church. It's easy to get lost in servicing the structure that people don't have to spend as much time on themselves. At RCC we have made a church of mirrors.

There is no ritual we get into. People walk in and it seems inviting with the lights down and the screen lit up with images, but once you settle into the comfortable stadium seating and start listening...it is you and your thoughts and an omnipresent God. There's no place to hide, no stained glass to clean, no uncomfortable pew to wriggle around on, no hymnal to flip through. You are there, in church with you, your thoughts and your God. The environment encourages reflection. Because of the environment, soul searching happens easier. It's not always a comfortable feeling sitting there with your thoughts...it's not always easy to sit there and realize just how hard it can be to accept Jesus' free gift of salvation when we know just how badly we don't deserve it. But there it is...staring us in the face...when we look in the mirror.