My church would not have memorials.
Some of you might not even know what I am talking about because you have always been part of churches who have held this as a value…a memorial is something physical that is bought in memory of a lost loved one and is given to the church with the idea that they would proudly display it in remembrance of them. While I have seen them run the gambit from a tree all the way to a life-size statue of someone…usually it is something that relates with where the deceased had passion. Let me just say to anyone out there that have done a memorial or believes strongly in them…I totally get WHY you would want to have such a thing represented in a place that meant so much to a lost loved one. That being said this blog series is all about “My Church” so I am sharing with you some thoughts on why if I designed a church it would not have memorials. There are number of issues that come to mind, but one permeates all the others: memorials take the focus off of Christ and place it on people. It seems throughout church history Christians have struggled with how much honor should be given to themselves. Whether they glorify them as saints like Catholics do or make them into dirty rags like good old Baptists do (I can say that cause I used to be one) Christians just can’t seem to get this one right. Church is supposed to be about Jesus Christ, not us…so to me it follows that as much as humanly possible we must seek to lay aside our glory (however due it may be) and seek to point towards Jesus. Could even our building and church grounds be seen as opportunities to point people towards Jesus? I tend to think so. While that seems enough of a reason to me not to have them, here are a number of others that make me wanna throw them out;
- Once given and displayed at the church it becomes impossible to have remove such a display…even decades after the person has passed away.
- This is often one of the most political parts of a church…
- Whose “worthy” of a memorial anyway? How could anyone ever be denied a memorial at a church? Allowing some to have memorials and not others creates a hierarchal structure in the church that should not exist.
- Memorials cost money to maintain over the years and can often take vital church resources to keep them.
I know this post might have hit a nerve with some of you in light of recent events…but I ask you to pause and think about my concerns before you respond. As a pastor our job is to continue the work of the Chief Shepherd, drawing all the lost sheep back into the pen. In the end the sheep matter deeply to Him and we remain as His living memorials.
And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.
1 Peter 5:4TNIV
All memorials will fade down here…how much better for us to keep our focus on receiving Crowns that will never fade or tarnish.
[this is a continuation of my blog series " My Church" I started HERE & #2 is HERE]
