As some of you may know, my church is in the midst our long anticipated building project with a goal of not merely building a new building, but to help build the lives of the people around us.
Above is a picture our hundred-year building as it stands today. To look at this picture comes with mixed feelings; sadness for what was and excitement for what is to come.
It’s been a crazy process to see what was a landmark in the community come down so fast. When work started a couple weeks ago, it was exciting to see the crew systematically deconstruct the building. Then as the progress became more and more apparent, it became little sad.* Finally they started on the roofs and within a few days, even they were dismantled and taken away.
A few days later I drove to the church and I was shocked to see what was left of our building. It was as it is shown above…
Just the floor.
Wall less.
I’m not sure what I was expecting to feel like when it got to this point, but my first thought when I saw the building progress was:
“This is beautiful.”
It got me excited, not because our church is getting a brand new building, but as I looked our church building, the symbolism was clear. What I saw was glimpse of what our church could be…
A Church Without Walls.
A church that was open to the community. A church that believed and prayed that God would tear down the walls of our hearts and lives that so separated us from the community that needs God., just as the men deliberately tore down the walls of building.
If only we could live wall less.
All that was left was the floor and foundation. I hope and pray that God would be our foundation and that we as the church would strive to tear down our walls so that we can see and not ignore the brokenness of the world around us, and also so that the community might see the church for who we truly are, failures and all.
Hopefully all of us will see that sometimes the brokenness in our lives is a sign that God is trying to what it takes to build us up and make us new. Some times we have to break down our walls that seem to keep us safe, or remove that roofs that hold us in.
God is doing something new in Koloa, hopefully its not merely putting up a new building.
Grace and Peace
Ernie
* I have only been at the church for less than a year. I can’t imagine what it must feel like for those who have been there for 50 years!
