An allegory
It is a source of joy to raise in the Christian environment the Church’s concern for the art, aesthetics, liturgy and dynamics of worship, care that affects both the intramural and extramural action of the Church. however, the latter is a very special issue that we will not address this time.
- Then we will talk about the aesthetics of temples.
- Programs.
- Details.
- Decorations.
- Symbolisms The level of improvisation and lack of preparation of their leaders increases from providing an organized.
- Thoughtful.
- Dynamic and planned service.
- Not those encounters that often blush at us.
- Shamelessly.
This appreciation of aesthetics, dynamics, the contemporary language of the occasions on which we find ourselves is a very positive thing, which must be preserved, thought and supported by the Churches with all the zeal. Anglican theologian John Stott once said:
“Being biblical and not being contemporary is easy, being contemporary and not being biblical is so easy, the real challenge is to be biblical and contemporary. “
Therefore, we must, following Stott’s proposed path, strive not to turn occasions of worship into a kind of community celebration of what we ourselves think is good and we love to do. It’s a subtle danger, a silent temptation to be very careful with.
Sometimes it is possible, and this is the great point on which I would like to draw your attention, that we are so involved in the program, with the guests, with the decoration, with the theme, with the communication of the event, with the meetings that will arise from there, in short, with all the demand that implies this particular time, that we take serious risks of reversing the order that should guide the process in the church.
And the order is this: in the Church of Christ, the center must never be that or what I love, rather, all my work and dedication must be in the direction of the illumination of Christ, so that his name and message are elevated At the top. places of this opportunity. And this, at times, can cause discomfort and discomfort for those present, after all, we will be confronted with the message of the gospel, and the message of the gospel is not always something easy to hear and communicate.
However, even in the face of unrest and confrontation, these fundamental Christian-central principles should never be open to negotiation. We must understand that the dynamics and mission of the Church are unique and completely different from the dynamics and mission of a company, university or NGO.
In the church, Christ must always be the center. Neither the event, nor the decoration, the lights and the sound, nor the beautiful marketing campaign accompanied by a brilliant piece of design effectively disseminated and worked on social networks, nor the food, the atmosphere, the place, the preacher, the speaker, the forum, the guest?What about the group?All these things are wonderful, but they cannot be the center, but they must point to the center that is Christ.
Taking advantage of the image of Brazilian professor and philosopher Jonas Madureira, I propose that all these things function as projectors, who completely leave the stage to illuminate what really deserves to be illuminated.
What we really need is the gospel, with a solid teaching of the inexhaustible Living Word that reveals who God is and frees us from the temptation to build an imaginary and false god, created in our image and likeness, that has nothing to do with the God of Scripture, our supreme and vital need will always be to know God , which is the anchoring of our lives and our programs, for, as we may fear, serve him, to love him above all and to our neighbour as ourselves. , unknowingly?
We don’t have to unite just to talk about ourselves and our passing problems, we must unite to talk about God and his eternal questions, because God’s eternal questions permeate all our passing questions, of all ages and in all. Logic cannot be reversed and the center must never fail to be the glory of God’s grace.
The problem with reversing priorities, putting programming and its characteristics, in the place of Christ, is that, first of all, you despise the glory of God, and when the event is not exactly how you love it so much, you won. ‘t. more. In other words, it is not his communion with God that motivates the work excellently done for Him, it is the work excellently done that motivates his communion with God. There we have a problem of idolatry, because if you feel motivated to seek God, you need a reason greater than God himself, what you are looking for is not God, but an idol, which is called entertainment. .
We must ensure that our aesthetic and liturgical efforts do not end up diverting the attention of our brethren from Christ and segmenting our churches, that is: in this church only hipsters go, in this only the nerds, in the other, young people over the age of 25, in these other middle-aged intellectuals, in the other, the elderly and in the other , women over the age of 40.
Can there be special affinities and programs for the different segments that make up the church?Of course, and we should even work to make these activities achievable. However, what I find pernicious and disturbing is that we turn to the church in search of brothers who are just mirrors. May we fall into the error of seeking a church in our image and likeness.
Emphasize the richness of a girl who learns to be a woman with a lady, a woman strengthened by the life and innocence of a boy, a boy who learns justice for the middle-aged man and the advanced old man who is visited and loved by a group of young people full of joy and tenderness to the heart.
My fear is that we will have a church for each aesthetic-cultural segment and avoid the struggle for unity in diversity, based on the aggregation power of the Gospel of Christ, our Lord, since the beauty of the church is precisely the fact that it is a family with people of all kinds, peoples, customs, ages and places, gathered by the Holy Spirit , for the unique and supernatural purpose of serving and confessing the Lamb of God who brings out sin from the world. beauty of diversity that lies in the essence of the unity of Christ’s Church.
Taking the beautiful figure of the brothers of the Mosaic Movement, we must look at the dynamics of the Church to discover what poverty our God-given wealth can provide to the brethren around us, and what wealth they have to provide the brethren around us. our constant and persistent poverty.
Therefore, let us not use aesthetic, artistic, cultural or liturgical arguments to divide the body of Christ: we have not been called to communion in a reflected church, made in our image and likeness, but we are called to the courageous struggle of all. Christ-based day and his gospel to savor the beauty, joys and challenges of life. The church as it is, in all its diversity and rich plurality.
The gospel of Christ is infinitely more powerful to unite us from what any aesthetic and cultural difference can separate us from. All these things serve as tools to enlighten Christ, and in Christ we must stand firm with a faith and a voice.
May God reach us!