- “Desiring the Kingdom” – James K. A. Smith

Something about this that draw me back to my roots.

Talk of ‘heaven’ and ‘earth, though comes to us mostly from the Bible, and in the Bible these are not two places, separated from each other by many miles, but two different dimensions of the total reality of the world. This is what I mean by a ‘duality’ as opposed to a ‘dualism.’ Just as animals, and many plants, are irreducibly male and female, with the two being complementary, and both being good and necessary for the flourishing of the species, so ‘heaven’ and ‘earth’ are the two dimensions of created reality.

These two God-given dimensions interlock and interact in a variety of ways, sometimes confusingly, often surprisingly. And it’s particularly important to notice that heaven and earth were both created good. It isn’t the case the physical world is somehow shabby or second-rate, and the non-physical somehow morally superior. That is to move into dualism, setting the two worlds against each other. Indeed, in the biblical story evil infected both spheres: creatures in heaven as well as creatures on earth, we are told, rebelled against God. But in that same story all things, in both spheres, are reconciled through Jesus the Messiah, though only after the principalities and powers, the spiritual powers that attempted to usurp God’s place, had been defeated through Jesus’ crucifixion.

- N.T. Wright (pp 36,37) – The Millennium Myth, Westminster John Knox Press, 1999

When St. Paul visited Ephesus and spent several years of ministry there, he would have seen the Nike ‘swish’ very similar to that which has become almost ubiquitous in our day.  Visiting Ephesus, I too saw an ancient stone carving of the goddess who personified victory during the time of Greek culture’s prevalence. The ruin depicts the goddess in a posture from which emulates the same basic design in the modern symbol.

This winged goddess had as her Roman equivalent, Victoria. Often portrayed as the divine charioteer, she and her siblings were known as close companions of Zeus, the dominant deity of the Greek pantheon. In Greek art she is shown flying above battlefields rewarding the victors with glory and fame. This goddess of victory, speed and strength was one of the most commonly portrayed figures on Greek coins.  Names such as Nicholas and Nicole come from this ancient goddess and mean: ‘victory of the people.’

Modern advertizers know that symbols are important as part of their branding and advertizing positioning. The Nike swish and the Apple apple say what a word or words no longer have to say. At one time, Nike advertisers included the name along with the symbol; but now the symbol says it all.

Christians still live in a subculture largely dominated by words. Our culture has moved not always to exclude words but by accenting sight and sound, emotion and movement, with which emphases many in our churches are not yet comfortable.

Yet, even ‘bad’ symbols are powerful symbols.

Visiting the ancient village of my ancestors, in Suffolk, England, I found that the walls of the large church, where little baby Barbers were christened for many generations, had been whitewashed. Like so many others, some of them now revealed by intent and by time,  in all likelihood pictures and murals lie buried underneath many layers. If removed, one could again see depicted many stories and characters of the Old and New Testaments.

In a day when most people were illiterate, and if there was a Bible it  was chained at the altar rail of such churches, one way of portraying and augmenting the power of the Bible’s stories was by painting them, often in vivid, colours and striking and compelling scenes. Post-Reformation iconoclasts (such as a man named Dowsing in that area of East Anglia) insisted that such idolatrous pictures be covered over with layers of paint and whitewash. At the same time, wooden and stone carved heads of saints were knocked off in niches and on baptismal fonts. Rood screens (often with elaborately carved and painted Bible characters and stories) were torn out and, in many cases, stained-glass windows, depicting similarly such stories  but in the medium of glass, were also destroyed.

But symbols are not evil. They are pointers. They are icons or windows to something or Someone beyond. They become idolatrous only if they are worshiped in themselves, rather than giving due honour and worship to the One to whom they ultimately point.

One pastor tells that while watching television an advertisement for cat food came on. He pointed to the television so as to direct his own cat to the food and furry friends depicted there.’Look, there are some of your friends!’ His cat merely came over and sniffed his fingers. The same happens, in effect, when we see only the pointer (the image, the icon, the symbol) and fail to see what it is pointing us toward. So, the hymn-writer writes: ‘Beyond the sacred page, I seek Thee, Lord.’

Advertizers are putting their brand on, and symbolizing our world. Christians would do well to re-symbolize their world too, regathering and creating anew those helpful pointers to the Presence of God and His Kingdom rule which all should be, and perhaps are, longing to see.

To get there from here will involve change in attitude with regard to various aspect of what has been seen as ‘normal’ in the life of our family of churches. All aspects will be involved, including concept of how support of the denomination encourages and resources individual churches and regional associations.

My role is not necessarily to have all the resources and then to dole them out as and if asked But rather, as more of a router than a main-frame, my role is to direct pastor, leaders and congregations to the many resources, stories and models of FreshChurch where the missional task is being taken up because the need to do so is being taken seriously.

Denominatonal leaders in their encouraging, catalytic and resourcing capacity will ask local church leaders and congregants: ‘How does growth happen? How will necessary change be effected in this locale? What is your mission? How can we help you discern and embrace ways of obedient, trusting response?