Reflection for February 9

I’m not advocating for a return to expensive building programs. I understand that whatever it is that makes space sacred is very dependent on cultural context. But it isn’t enough to worship simply by talking about the gospel. Even if the church is meeting in a high school gymnasium, there has to be some encounter with beauty because it can never be separated from truth….

Our gospel is not just more words about God. Truth has a twin sister called beauty who beckons us to bow the knee. This beauty may be seen through the icons on the walls of an Orthodox church in Eastern Europe, or the stark white walls and high pulpit of a Congregational church in New England, or the palm leaves intricately woven to form the roof of a sanctuary without walls in the Amazon rainforest. But it all helps worshipers “behold,” which is one of the angels’ favorite words. It doesn’t have to cost much; it just has to attempt the beauty of holiness.

The sanctuary is the place where people gather week after week to remember that the holy is also in the places of their lives that are not so beautiful (M. Craig Barnes, “Truth in beautiful spaces,” Christian Century, February 5, 2014).