The Corinthians are saying that "all of us possess knowledge." Maybe, Paul replies, but knowledge may not be what you, as followers of Christ, should be striving for. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. It isn't that knowledge is bad, but if it doesn't build up the community (like the love modeled by Jesus Christ), then it isn't in line with the gospel. Love builds up, Paul says. Do you? Are your actions in line with the love modeled for you by Jesus?
My classmates and I were once told by our theology professor that we "should never let our metaphor take us farther than we want to go." I'm walking on the edge here.
Take a look at the two structures below. What is similar about them? Both are gray. Both are Gothic in detail (pointed arches, pointed gables, towers with spires). Both have a single entrance with archivolts (the bands of molding within the door arch that echo its shape).
What makes them different? One is, well...inflated, while the other is built up.
Now there's nothing to say that an inflatable church can't be useful and/or amusing. It's a meme waiting to happen, though. Something about all the hot air in the church. Or blowhards. Or something like that. But the tabernacle was a moveable worship space, wasn't it? There might be some value in being able to pack up an inflatable church (some have inflatable pews, an inflatable pulpit, even inflatable candles on an inflatable Communion table) and move to another location.
We know the church is not the building - the children's song reminds us that the church is the people. But which of the "buildings" feels more stable? Which would you feel safer standing in? One pin, and the inflatable church is in danger. There are more things in the world that can bring the puffed up church to the point of collapse. A Swiss Army Knife can make a number of those things available in any pocket. The built church can still fall, of course, but probably not at the hand of a six-year-old with a pair of scissors. And it's clear that the inflatable church wants to look like the stone church. It isn't exploring the possibilities of contemporary inflatable technology. Rather it is mimicking an earlier style.
What kind of church are you creating by the words that you say? What sort of church are we creating by the deeds that we do? Are we puffed up? Or are we building up?
Top: This inflatable church is available from various vendors for $2400 - $10,000. It is also available in pink. Search the internet for additional information. Bottom: Neo-Gothic church. Kylemore Abbey, Connemara, Co. Galway, Ireland.
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