“Don’t let the location throw you off. His office is really small and unimpressive.” This was the last piece of information provided before, when I finally went to a chiropractor here in the Twin Cities. It was time to deal with my array of aches; I don’t trust my “adjustments” to just anyone. My neighbor suggested him: “He’s a cracker and really knows how to move you into shape.” I like the guy a lot; how can you not like a guy listening to Jimi Hendrix and the Doors when you arrive? But, it was the comment about his office that struck me.
What’s with our obsession about the appearance of our places?
1. Our desire to upgrade, refurnish or move away from our aging homes to something more “current.”
2. Our desire to work in a “cool” office; with the latest Herman Miller adorned workstations or, if in management, the “preferred” office spots.
3. Our desire to attend those striking, dynamic and majestic places of worship. Or, when the membership has grown beyond the capacity of the high school auditorium or old storefront, the “campaign” to raise enough money for designing and building a bastion of tribute and worship.
If you are like me, you probably have some favorite movies and books of which you have partaken more than once. For me, movies like Rudy, Lord of the Rings, Dead Poet’s Society, Notting Hill (the character Spike is worth the whole film). Books like The Hobbit, The Fountainhead, anything by C.S. Lewis and that other one…you know, the Bible. I admit that (according to various research sources) I am one of the less than 10% of the people declared of Judeo-Christian faith who have read the bible from cover to cover, let alone more than once. I have completely read both testaments more than once (the number is not important here), and as with anything you see, read, hear or experience more than once you notice something new each time. For me, the latest to hit me was in the O.T. 1 Kings 5-7 in which Solomon builds the holy temple, fulfilling King David’s (Dad) wish to build this place of honor and tribute to his loving God. These three chapters give elaborate details of the preparation, design specifics, lavish adornments and building materials (including the harvesting and transport of wood from the Cedars of Lebanon. This is in and of itself a wonder. I know this first hand from my trip to Lebanon two years ago, where I was privileged to stand in the Cedars of Lebanon forest and visually experience the natural parameters and challenges for accomplishing such a distant task). The final temple (place of worship) for God was truly magnificent. Staggering. Lavish. As was Solomon’s palace he built for himself (home), as well as the quarters therein for his wives and key people (office).
The zinger got me while reading from N.T. Acts 7:44-50, where the prophet Stephen is defending himself eloquently before the Sanhedrin (right before getting stoned to death as a result), by sharing the O.T. history about Israel’s relationship with God. He says:
44"Our forefathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the desert. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. 45Having received the tabernacle, our fathers under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David, 46who enjoyed God's favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.[ 47But it was Solomon who built the house for him.
48"However, the Most High does not live in houses made by men. As the prophet says: 49" 'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be? 50Has not my hand made all these things?'
So what? As leaders, learners, seekers and livers (not the chopped variety) we should consider:
1. Dig your digs. It was 480…count them, 480…years from the time Moses led the Israelites from Egypt till the time Solomon held his grand opening soiree for the Temple. Until then God hung out in a tent…just a tent. Sand. Camels. Complaining. The tabernacle endured longer than this majestic citadel of faith in Jerusalem, destroyed after 374 years .
2. Leaders seek big; the rest of us seek small and intimate. As a number of emerging leaders wisely note, a holy place for experiencing moments praising God is not directly proportionate to the size of your steeple. It comes from within the temple of your heart. The bigger we grow, the more important it is to consider finding places where we can become smaller. How and where we “exchange our goods” has little (if nothing) to do with handsome exteriors; and everything to do with humble interiors.
3. Your place or mine? Where you are right now, is exactly where you are supposed to be. If you are preoccupied with yearning for a “place” somewhere better, more important, with a better view or a more meaningful role…you risk missing the best of, value of, perspective of and meaning of what your present “place” holds.
Maybe we should stop pitching a fit. Try pitching a tent.
Campy thought?
For emphasis – (b)
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