The Differentiated

Stone walls adorned with statues of angels and demons depicting brilliant narratives surround sanctuaries framed by arched ceilings and heavenly domes. Light falls into imposing halls in varying colors as acoustics throw themselves in punishing echoes to those who whisper too loudly. The people that serve under these beautiful canopies are decked out in like manner: draped in religious finery, heavy disposition, and reverent speech. As far as man could create, buildings of far-reaching beauty and reverence stand in order to communicate to those who behold it the same thing many behold God as: Big. Holy. Driven. Imposing. Accomplishing.

Modern churches have changed in their appearance. Often these are much more ordinary looking buildings. Inside are welcoming entryways, a coffee stand of some sort, an inspirational quote slapped in color upon a elegantly lit wall and couches and comfy chairs to lounge in. Convenience, inclusion, and acceptance infuses the air of these buildings. The sanctuaries are optimized for performance, as stages are set and lined with instruments and microphones. Here also the people serving align their appearance and speech to the vibe of the building: conversational, socially fluid, and engaging.

In whatever church we frequent, the influences that our faculties perceive both consciously and subconsciously tempt us in the direction of whatever value is being communicated. It is of course the case that those who attend European style Cathedrals, have a preference for God the adjudicator, who permanently reigns with might from a throne. In modern churches, it is the relational Jesus, and the intimate Spirit of God that dwells among humanity that is emphasized.

And we are not the only ones being pushed into a particular emphasis of traits, but everyone else is too. To the degree that one is pushed, one becomes more included, more appreciated, more seen, and given more social promise.

“God feels so present here” – the typical anonymous believer who loves their church, but is also a caricature of it.

It is usually this same person that often cannot find God anywhere else properly. There is “those other churches, that just aren’t for me”, or “the world”, that is dark and evil.

A sense of superiority wells up in them as they consider their current place of religious prosperity as some sort of endorsement from God about the state of their souls. Conversely, they go to the world and find the darkness so palpable that they “simply couldn’t stand it”. Maybe they even try to interact with the world only to attempt to bring that which they find in the halls of the assembly of their fellow believers to the wayward world that never asked for their influence.

And then something occurs in the very halls they “found God” so reliably in that casts a shadow on everything. There is a financial scandal that hit the church, in which leaders were embezzling church funds. They discover that people are being outcast because they do not “sufficiently embody” their churches values – or maybe are stifled by groups of elitist cliques that have passed judgment upon them. At some point in time, inevitably, the jig is up, and the cohesion one feels within the assembly of believers one abides in shows a dark side that is hard or impossible to stomach.

They then leave, and often do not know where to find solace. The values that were pushed upon them now threatened to be capsized by the pain that those within the church walls have caused. Inclusion? For what? For church thieves?… Holiness? For what? Cliquish judges?

Many spiral as the wounds fester within them. Many eventually find themselves ever more in the arms of the comforts of this world, and become seduced by the pleasure it promises. Others, some while seduced, and some who are still searching but now nevertheless find themselves placed more in the world than the church, may find people that are somehow able to actually live out whatever values their previous church claimed to be so tantamount but which they failed to live out. Confusion begins about who is who in the grand interplay of “elect” and “heathen”.

If they are honest people who do not give up in their quest for clarity despite their faith crisis, they realize that God does not at all withhold aid from anyone who attempts to find truth, regardless of whether they believe in Jesus or not. They also realize the opposite: that the devil does not at all withhold aid from anyone who attempts to pilfer, cheat, and lie, regardless of whether they hate him or not.

And with some luck, they realize that God was working on them all along – to break it to them that the world requires careful consideration, regardless of church walls, or faith confessions. The naivete they previously held needed shattering, and that they were intentionally placed in a church and among other believers in which severe disappointment would reliably take place.

This is the new world they inhabit: one in which they continually investigate in relationship with God those who preach from stages or in elaborate priestly garb – or cohesive groups of believers. It beckons the now discerning believer to carefully tread around the state of the souls of unbelievers, with an eye for the parts of them in which God has already planted and watered, which, one hopes, will eventually help yield itself to their own relationships with God.

The believer that has been thrown from their previously safe perch among those of faith is one who has been granted the opportunity to be something many others never learn: a differentiated human being; one who is not swayed by the appearance of values that are never consequentially proven; one who is not impressed by church buildings or vibes of services; one who does not condemn the drunkard or the prostitute in which God is actively working and for whom He is hoping.

It’s the sign of growth and progress in holiness to be a person made wise through the burn marks of Christian betrayals, and exposure to the plight of those still in progress in the world. Continued holiness demands wounds left by Christian hands.