The Gospel and the Chandelier PDF Print Email
by Steve State - Chicago, Illinois  -  Wednesday, 02 July 2008

 Ken and Rosemary Stanley live in Lincoln Park and are faithful members of our congregation (Chicago). At their shop called Stanley Galleries on North Clark Street, they’ve sold and leased expensive lighting for movie sets such as Curly Sue, to stars like Daryl Hannah and to local figures such as Oprah Winfrey. Yes, Ken and Rosemary know lighting.

I’ve observed that their shop contains some pieces which look like a pile of metal and glass. Yet the ceiling in their shop is filled with many beautiful and majestic light fixtures. I inquired into the contrast of beautifully displayed lights and the pieces of damaged fixtures. Then Ken explained what happens to a chandelier if it isn’t properly maintained. “A newly lacquered light will never need anything but to be placed above the room, dusted off and kept lit. These lights are always fine if they stay up and are used. But people take them down and leave them out in the open on the floor—the worst place to leave a chandelier. It will be broken because it’s too fragile to come into contact with common items,” he said.
 
A chandelier belongs in one place—a place where it’s kept up for all to see. It’s when people take it down and become neglectful that damage occurs. Later, they may change their mind and try to “touch it up” and put it back in its proper place, but inadvertently they will ruin the finish. Ken warns of this likely situation: “Any foreign substance will penetrate the finish and corrode the metal. Then deepcleaning is required, which is very strenuous. The soiled chandelier must be taken apart, each component must be cleaned of lacquer, buffered, degreased, have two kinds of compound applied and possibly the metal will have to be reheated then lacquered again.”
 
The gospel, like the chandelier, is meant to be properly placed. Misplacement of it will lead to contamination as well. And hard work is involved in deep-cleaning the precious treasures of the gospel from contamination with common elements. (2 Corinthians 4:4)
 
It’s my opinion that many of us allowed the gospel’s witness to be damaged a few years ago, and we were also surprised by the need for deep-cleaning to get it back and working properly. For many, the gospel light was removed and replaced by the common lamp of human philosophy. Then the gospel fixture was stored away and stained by “me-myself-and-I” thinking, tarnished by victim mindsets, knocked around and dented by hidden desires and greased by culture. Consequently, it required that we learn the arduous process of cleaning. I’m of the mindset that we’re still in deep-cleaning mode. Hopefully, we’ll learn to never lose sight of the gospel in the future. For the remainder of this article, let’s review some important lessons about protecting the gospel.
 
Proper Maintenance
Keeping the gospel light up and shining is a matter of cherishing our treasures. Serious reflection on the gospel enables us to tell the story of Jesus in a painless manner, allows for our times of communion to be more meaningful and opens up the possibility of each and every baptism being more powerful and poignant. (Romans 1:16)
 
Telling. It’s really good to get into regular conversations about the gospel story. Telling new hearers reinforces the gospel much like dusting off the fixture preserves it.
 
Communion. Let’s be dedicated to meaningful communion on every occasion. One way to help ensure this is for the one who’s presenting the communion thoughts to do so with a pertinent passage of Scripture, one or two points and a brief personal application. The goal is remembrance, examination and gratitude. (1 Corinthians 11:23-30)
 
Baptism. Another way we can uphold the gospel is by having well-conducted baptisms. These wonderful celebrations should involve quality preparation—things like finding a great location, planning and communication, prayer and the use of testimonies, songs and hymns.
 
Hazards and Foreign Substances
Remember, the worst thing we can do is to put away the gospel by neglect and focus instead on the peripheral aspects of being a Christian. This is how one is bewitched by lesser things (Galatians 3:1) and the witness of the gospel is damaged. Can this be said of your life?
 
Have I taken down the gospel and put it away? When we’re not centered on matters of first importance, other things from the common lamp of the world become our philosophy. One of the worst things that can happen is when we become more rooted in our culture than in Christ, allowing the winds of change, culture, fashionable moods, our newest envies and other desires to threaten the gospel.
 
Have I stained my gospel witness by “me-myself-and-I” thinking? Consider our inner voice when everything is about us: I didn’t get enough out of that worship time. Why wasn’t I asked my opinion? Nobody calls me. I only want to hear sermons on grace and love and nothing else.
 
Is my understanding of the gospel greased by culture? What would have happened to God’s witness in Babylon if three young boys had bowed down to an idol along with the crowds? (Daniel 3) Their culture demanded they follow the piper, the crowd and a king’s self-serving edict. Fortunately, they stood their ground. But have we joined the culture of crowds? Modern pipers play a different tune, calling us into complaining, cynicism and complacency?
 
Have you tarnished your witness by playing the victim? Everybody has bad things happen to them, and some hurts are much worse than others. But the gospel story tells of the real victim who entrusted Himself to God. He gave of Himself, loved deeply and was thinking of others up until His last breath. One goal of the Christian is to often remind others of Jesus in this regard. (1 Peter 2:22-25)
 
Necessary Deep-Cleaning
Deep-cleaning is difficult, but not nearly so difficult for those who know what the treasure is supposed to look like, whether it’s a chandelier or the gospel. Let’s briefly cover the main measures of deep-cleaning in our spiritual lives—degreasing, reheating, buffering, applying compound and applying lacquer.
 
Degreased by Prayer, Confession and Forgiveness. It’s as simple as James stated: “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16)
 
Reheated by Study. It has already been established that the best use of the gospel is to know it and showcase it. I’ve found that by carefully studying the Gospels, striving to grasp new details and nuances every time I read them, I find myself strengthened. Observing chronology and noticing the various perspectives of the characters helps me appreciate our priceless treasure. Even though I have severe dyslexia and memorization problems, I could reasonably put together the story of the Gospel accurately if I was stranded on an island with only a piece of paper and a pencil. Why? Because it means so much to me!
 
Buffered by Small Groups. In organized groups, it’s easier to make sure that needs aren’t being overlooked. (Mark 6:39-30, Acts 6:1-4) Spontaneity has its benefits, but planned encouragement is unbeatable to help us in our efforts to strengthen one another. (Hebrews 3:13)
 
Apply Compound of Quality Instruction. Everybody who spreads the gospel has some approach for instructing converts. For us, our choice of a study-series reveals our most cherished beliefs. Recently in Chicago, we did a rewrite of this series on two different occasions. Our goals were to introduce people to God in the way He was introduced to mankind, beginning with creation. We chose to maintain a biblical sequence as far as it was reasonable, with some overlapping in our familiar seven-study format. It seemed wise to acquaint the learner with the two major covenants and establish the importance of the Sermon on the Mount. We set out to define concepts such as justification, mercy, grace and rebirth. We hoped to awe others about God, Jesus and the Gospel, and the process strengthened those who used these studies.
 
Lacquered by Christian Apprenticeship. Shortly before Jesus ascended into heaven, He called His disciples to continue to teach every baptized disciple to obey everything they had been commanded. (Matthew 28:20) This is a lifetime process. In light of this teaching, there’s a real need for discipling, mentoring, coaching, training and being taught. Whatever word or phrase is in vogue, or whichever one you may prefer, we all need help in following Jesus.
 

Prayer, Bible-study, the protective involvement of people in our lives, experiencing Christ in small groups and the use of a valuable study-series will help us experience authentic growth for God in a great way. It will also help us to put the gospel on display where it belongs. But I believe the most important lesson drawn from the chandelier is to keep the gospel properly placed over our lives and let its light govern our lives. Remember, things gets really complicated when we take the light down.
Last Updated:   Wednesday, 02 July 2008
 
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