I Am a Worship Space

This past Sunday, the children of two of our close friends were baptized at First Christian Church in our hometown of Fulton, MO. Our own kids and I (Erin was out of town) were so excited to be there for our friends on such a great and holy day. Since this church was a very different worship space for us, the children had a ton of questions, including “Who are those people in robes?” (we don’t have a choir at our church, much less a choir in robes), “Where are the kneelers?”, and “Why did they build the ceiling so high?” For context on that last question, the Catholic church we regularly attend was originally built to be a small gymnasium back in the 1950s. When the parish ran out of money to build the church, the cinderblock gym structure with the low ceiling was finished off as the church. So, our kids don’t have a great deal of experience with grand church architecture. To answer the question about the high ceiling, I said that the likely intention of the architect was to attempt to lift worshipers’ eyes to the heavens and create a space that compelled people to contemplate God.

That answer, though, started me thinking about my own behaviors and creations. While I am not capable of creating ornate worship spaces like the architect of First Christian Church, according to 1 Corinthians 6:19, I AM a worship space. Everything I am, from how I dress to what I say to how I behave, has the potential to lift to the heavens the eyes of those I come into contact with. Sometimes I think I do that pretty well, but most times I’m just hoping no one is watching or listening. I know I have a lot to work on.

How about you?

-Shannon