Imagine an art collector who finds rare and beautiful paintings that have been soiled and apparently ruined. This art collector rescues them from the junk heap, then packages them up in boxes and stores them in a warehouse indefinitely—still dirty, just safe (not perfect, just forgiven?). Not a very inspiring story, but this is precisely the metaphor that many churches have been working under.
Now, let’s tweak the metaphor and shift from Warehousing to Showcasing.
Imagine another art collector who not only rescues rare and beautiful paintings from the junk heap, but also cleans them up and restores them to their original beauty. Now imagine that, instead of warehousing the artwork, the art collector donates them to museums all around the world so they can be seen by everyone—showcases to inspire artists and poets and lovers all over the world. I think that is a much better metaphor for the church. We are to be a collection of restored works—demonstrating, in words and action, the beauty of the new life in Jesus. Our lives together (Col 3:12-17) are to inspire all kinds of people with and toward the love of God (see Matthew 5:15, 1 Peter 2:12).
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