Lost in the shadow of the cathedral...

I am a huge fan of the Lincoln Cathedral. If you drive from any direction into the Lincoln, England area, you will be greeted by the sight of the massive building as it presides over the Lincolnshire countryside. It is clearly visible for miles around and I have often thought that if I lived there, I would never tire of the view. The cathedral seems to speak in its silence: It just keeps on standing there in all its beauty, as the centuries--yes, centuries--come and go, as if to declare the age-abiding nature of the God's love. The sun strikes it by day, the clouds shadow it, man-made lights illumine it at night, the elements beat at it...and still it reigns, reminds and renews vision of heaven-to-earth contact potential.

On our first trip to Lincoln, however, my husband and I, having been properly awed by the sight as we drove into town, became a bit tortured by it as time went on. It seems we were staying at a hotel just a block or so away from the Cathedral and that knowledge plus the name of the hotel were all the direction we had. "Easy," we thought like Americans, "just head toward the cathedral and we'll find the hotel." What followed were, as I remember it, several loops around the cathedral, taking different turns when we could, the same turns when we were forced to, never seeing the hotel to which we were headed. (I don't mean "loops" like highway loops--these were like fractals, like wound threads, like the English coastline.) We passed amazing Roman wall ruins and quaint old shoppes but still were only circling the cathedral (now in evening traffic) and never being able to come in for a landing. Finally, we dug out our antiquated U.K. mobile (which only worked sometimes) and were able to phone a Lincoln friend and say, "Help...we're circling the cathedral." He "talked us in" to the back entrance of what turned out to be a lovely hotel, just in the shadow of the cathedral. And we were quite glad to WALK to the cathedral to view it up close!

Only later did the parable strike me. Western culture is wandering in the shadow of the cathedral! They can see the idea of church rising over the landscape, casting historical spiritual images across the countryside, but they so often can't find their way in. The church might even be beckoning to them, but the roads they are travelling just don't seem to provide an entrance! How many people may be circling in the shadows, sampling spirituality now and then, perhaps even wishing to understand our gospel, but prevented by the traffic and one-way signs (there were some of those, too.) Our grand history and amazing beauty is not enough! We must help people GET THERE!

As I thought more about the metaphor, I seized upon the reason for the difficulty. The cathedral was built to be visited by people, but at a time when the people travelled on foot! The roads were established to accommadate pilgrims walking, not driving gasoline-powered vehicles! As in so many English cities with rich history, the curious mix of old and new was in play. For the ancient cathedral to be visited by a non-pedestrian culture, extra pavement needed to be added!

So it is with church! The church--when it is really being the church (and that is a big subject)--IS desirable, grand and inspiring. No one needs to dress it up with modern trappings or trendy additions. (How silly the Lincoln Cathedral would look with a Frank Lloyd Wright wing...or a Millineum Dome on the lawn.) No, what the church needs to revamp is simply its road system--the approaches and entrances! What we have is highly relevant--how people access it is our challenge! The culture has changed and we must realized they are not winding their way in on foot: they have more to navigate and they are moving faster, and they are circling in shadows of spirituality cast by our history without ever finding parking nearby to check us out today!

When we were lost in Lincoln, in the shadow of the cathedral, I am glad that our friend answered his phone. I believe postmodern seekers are calling. Like Americans with an old half-working U.K. mobile, they may be a bit rusty on the procedure, but they are asking for direction! "Talk me into that safe place near the door," they are saying. They may say it in song or film or in "spiritual" conversation, but they are saying it. In Britain, where old church buildings tower like rulers across the countryside, or in the Bible belt of America where steel and chrome megachurches seem to leap out of the ground, there are many circling in the shadows, waiting for us to pick up the phone.

For more food for thought, see: Matthew 13:52