Jesus in stained glass

If you have ever seared for Jesus in stained glass, you will find a number of picture of Jesus.Jesus on a cross. Jesus carrying a cross. Jesus with lambs. Jesus with kids. Jesus ascending. Jesus looking like he will karate chop you. Jesus looking like he will own you in a staring contest.

Loads of Jesuses (Jesi?).

We pick out images of Jesus that speak to us and then use those images to make stained glass. And have you noticed that so many of the images are of a peaceful Jesus?

I asked a group of people today that if they had one shot to commission a stained glass image of Jesus what would they choose?

The image you choose is more than what image you like. The image you choose reflects the image of God you have. The image of God you have directs the way you think about God. The way you think about God has a direct impact on how you live and function in the world.

Picking out an image of Jesus for a stained glass is a spiritual exercise. I would pick an image of Jesus turning over the tables or a picture of Jesus out of Mark 5.


You may recall a provocative set of pictures created around Jesus by LaChapelle. What is the artist saying with these images? What are you saying with yours? 

Yoga, spin class and worship

Diana Butler Bass noted in a podcast that when she attended a yoga class she thought this is how church should be. Not the poses or the spandex or the mats or the music so much but the way the teacher moved in that class and how the class operated.

Her thought had me thinking that in yoga class there is a community that gathers together to take a different posture than normal. They all self-correct and hold one another accountable to the poses and encourage each other in the class. There is a teacher who walks among them and physically touches them and poses people while giving instruction to the class and guiding everyone together. There even is different clothes you use to assist your formation and you have tools to assist you. And in physical yoga class you are learning to breath, be flexible and nimble. Yoga is a way to get your body moving but it is a way of being in the world.

That sounds like a worship I would like to be in.

What Bass did not mention is that while worship is not set up like a yoga class it is set up like a spin class.

There is a community who come together to get pumped up. There is one posture you are to take and you take that posture the entire time you are there. You have movement but you do not stand up much and are rarely physically touched by anyone except a handshake. The instructor is up front and has a microphone as they then get the community energized to "attack the hill" or "get movin'". The irony of spin class is that you do a lot of work and don't go anywhere. You do not learn a way of living in spin class. The point of spin class is to feel better, get into physical shape, and get your heart rate pumping up. Once you leave spin class the class has little residual effects.

I wonder if we as a Church are addicted to spin class worship?

Organizing the roaches

In the book "The Information Diet" there was a nice metaphor that struck me. The author was talking about while the idea of greater transparency in the world is good, it is not a solution to the problems in the world. Just because we can see where the money is being spent in our governments does not mean that governments will be good stewards of that money. Thus transparency is good but honesty and integrity are much better ideals.

Here is the metaphor he used: 

"If you turn the lights on in a roach-infested apartment, it doesn’t kill the roaches, it just makes them organize in the shadows. Sunlight only hides the infestation. To get rid of them, you should clean up the apartment and probably call an exterminator."

The church talks a lot about being a "city on a hill" a "reflection of the light of God" and whatnot. All good metaphors. But when we are content on being just a reflection of the Light do we really just allow the roaches in the world (aka: sin) just become better organized? 

Is the church intended to be that place where we help shine the light or is the Church that place that is called to help clean up the apartment?