The Church's Pink Nails
Somewhere between the "concert" worship and conversational mile wide sermon I had a shocking thought: "I think I hate the Church." I replayed in my mind the churches I have seen, of the Church during the great revivals, and went back in my mind to the Church before and after Luther's 95 Theses, all the way back to the first century Church and I thought to myself, "She pretty much sickens me."
Wrong thought for a good little God fearing, Jesus loving, Spirit led PK to have, let alone for her to share with anyone who reads this... but indulge me a few minutes of your time and I hope I can explain to you what I am beginning to learn about the Church.
Throughout church history I might venture to say the biggest problem has been that of a monumental collision between Truth and Relevance. The Truth is vital. It is foundational to our churches. Without Truth we would be nothing more than a cult. All to often it is unpopular and uncomfortable but it is always glorious, and its weight is well worth it. Relevance is not bad. In fact it is true that we should always be changing the method of the message and not the other way around. Its not to be the other way around because then the quest to cultural or moral relevance runs the great risk of dampening the light of the Truth.
Since the start of the Church the maddening balancing act of the message and the method has revealed some of her unique beauty marks and at other times created a wart. She is fallen, She is broken, She is flawed, and yes, sometimes She is downright ugly.
But she is BEAUTIFUL. Its a beauty I can't describe. A beauty I can't understand. A beauty that draws me in. A beauty I can't walk away from.
Each Sunday I am drawn back, I crave to see a glimpse of her deep beauty. I hunger for it. But what is the great Beauty? That is what I can't put my finger on. Its the "Mona Lisa smile" of the Christian faith...what is behind that front? Is is it the Father's free gift, the sacrificial love of the Son, the presence of the Spirit? Is it the fellowship that grows out of believers coming together in His name?
She is complex and crazy, privy to scandal, involved in politics, She is used and abused, battered and broken. But she somehow keeps nourishing us, supporting us. We need her. She is like Lisa in Girl, Interrupted. You watch her fall apart and take others with her, you watch as she destroys lives and causes great pain. But by the end of the movie you are fighting for her to be the woman she is inside, the woman buried under the many hurts. You fight for her to overcome her labels and to be Lisa.
Its a beautiful scene at the end, Lisa is lying in restraints at the hospital, Susanna comes in to say goodbye. She pulls out some pink nail polish. As they oddly, tensely say goodbye Susanna paints Lisa's nails. Something is that act reminds her of her beauty, reminds her that she is a woman. Something that causes her to hope.
The Church is the bride of Christ. Sadly she may never fully look the part but if you look throughout her expansive history she has, at least, always had pink nails. Do you see it?
Wrong thought for a good little God fearing, Jesus loving, Spirit led PK to have, let alone for her to share with anyone who reads this... but indulge me a few minutes of your time and I hope I can explain to you what I am beginning to learn about the Church.
Throughout church history I might venture to say the biggest problem has been that of a monumental collision between Truth and Relevance. The Truth is vital. It is foundational to our churches. Without Truth we would be nothing more than a cult. All to often it is unpopular and uncomfortable but it is always glorious, and its weight is well worth it. Relevance is not bad. In fact it is true that we should always be changing the method of the message and not the other way around. Its not to be the other way around because then the quest to cultural or moral relevance runs the great risk of dampening the light of the Truth.
Since the start of the Church the maddening balancing act of the message and the method has revealed some of her unique beauty marks and at other times created a wart. She is fallen, She is broken, She is flawed, and yes, sometimes She is downright ugly.
But she is BEAUTIFUL. Its a beauty I can't describe. A beauty I can't understand. A beauty that draws me in. A beauty I can't walk away from.
Each Sunday I am drawn back, I crave to see a glimpse of her deep beauty. I hunger for it. But what is the great Beauty? That is what I can't put my finger on. Its the "Mona Lisa smile" of the Christian faith...what is behind that front? Is is it the Father's free gift, the sacrificial love of the Son, the presence of the Spirit? Is it the fellowship that grows out of believers coming together in His name?
She is complex and crazy, privy to scandal, involved in politics, She is used and abused, battered and broken. But she somehow keeps nourishing us, supporting us. We need her. She is like Lisa in Girl, Interrupted. You watch her fall apart and take others with her, you watch as she destroys lives and causes great pain. But by the end of the movie you are fighting for her to be the woman she is inside, the woman buried under the many hurts. You fight for her to overcome her labels and to be Lisa.
Its a beautiful scene at the end, Lisa is lying in restraints at the hospital, Susanna comes in to say goodbye. She pulls out some pink nail polish. As they oddly, tensely say goodbye Susanna paints Lisa's nails. Something is that act reminds her of her beauty, reminds her that she is a woman. Something that causes her to hope.
The Church is the bride of Christ. Sadly she may never fully look the part but if you look throughout her expansive history she has, at least, always had pink nails. Do you see it?
posted by KJ at
6:05 PM
5 Comments:
I like this post. As I read it I was drawn to the beauty of grace...maybe that's what it is...Christ has called her His bride, and somehow all of her running, hiding, hurting others, searching for identity in culture, etc will be redeemed one day...and the beauty that is Christ at the head will be revealed...and you want to be there when it happens, because you are part of that bride...something like that...
Love you!
Wow.....and that's all I can say.
Hey Kristin-- I'm friends with JJ from ISF, and she told me I should find you. =) My husband and I are moving to Kirkland this summer from Memphis, and I had asked JJ if she had any church reccomendations. She told me you were looking for a church, so I was wondering what kind of things you could point me toward in the Seattle area...good and bad. You can email me at EmmyMC98 at aol.com or find me on my blog.
K- These are some really good thoughts... and some of them, I've chewed on myself. I like the Mona Lisa thought... haven't seen the other Lisa but I could imagine it. I agree with Jenny, too... I want to be there when it happens... but sometimes it is so ugly and hard to participate in! Keep the thoughts churnin, lady!
SMeyer (miss seeing you!)
"running, hiding, hurting others.." torturing and killing nonbelievers, acting smug, Sarah Palin one-liners, we're the saint's, you all are the ain'ts, aren't we clever for figuring out "the Truth" too bad all the rest of you are going to hell..you mean that church??
Sorry, pink nail polish ain't gonna cover up those flaws. I'd rather emulate someone like Greg Mortenson who does what he can in the world just because it's right, just because he cares about his fellow human beings, just as they are. He's not trying to change them.
Don't get me wrong..Jesus is cool..the Christian church sucks.
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