Deeper than a Metaphor

Driving an old church van through the mountains of Eastern Kentucky, the words of Randy Travis came to mind and the words rolled out of my mouth (in my favorite country music voice): “My love is deeper than the holler, stronger than the river, higher than the pine trees growing tall upon the hill”. No one told me. There was no announcement, just a realization. There I was - in the holler. I had never been there, but when I got there, I knew what it was called!

Without metaphors, we would have very few love songs or poems. Not only as a tool of artistic expression, but also has a tool for educators, metaphors help us to understand truth on a deeper level. Scripture is full of metaphors to help us understand spiritual truth. Christians are called sheep with a Good Shepherd Jesus. The Psalmist compares God to a fortress, a rock, a high tower, and a buckler. In each metaphor, God is compared to virtues of earthly formations or objects.

We often make the mistake of confusing other divine truths as metaphors. To say God is a heavenly father, is not to liken Him to fathers on earth. It is to call fathers on earth to the perfection of our heavenly Father. Fatherhood is not a cultural reality, it is an eternal reality with an unchanging reference - God the Father. In the same way, the church IS the bride of Christ. This is not a comparison of the church to an earthly bride. This is called theomorphic language. It is to say through the church we enter into covenantal relationship with Jesus. Our identity as a church and our purpose as a church finds its purpose in our relationship with Jesus – as His bride. While the church exists with many cultural markings (and always has), our defined purpose lies outside of local traditions and personal preferences.

In the 90’s, it became popular for churches to survey communities to find out what people want in a church. Best-selling books were written about how to create a seeker-centered church that gave people what they want. Many (not all) megachurches were built with this seeker-centered mindset. Churches became expressions of preferences, not a fulfillment of purpose.  As a church, our purpose is not defined by our preferences or based upon “market trends”. Scripture calls the church several names that define our purpose:

1.The Body of Christ living with Christ as the head and carrying out the commands of His headship.
2.The Bride of Christ set aside wholly for the glory and pleasure of God.
3.The Household of God, heirs of the Kingdom. Now called sons and daughters.
4.A Temple of the Lord for the indwelling of His Spirit.
5.A Flock listening to follow the voice of our Master.

The primary question is not how to grow the church, but how to fulfill the mission. May Byne continue to fulfill the purpose that God has given to us. May we be the church God desires and the church the world needs. Lean in and take another step as the Lord leads His church!