Cross Purposes
Theme for the Week: Worshiping Together
Tuesday, July 10, 2001
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verses: And God.
appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body (Ephesians 1:12-23).
Bonus Reading: Ephesians 1:17-23
Nowa Huta ("New Town") was built in the 1950s for workers, the backbone of a Communist Poland. Early in the town's construction, an open square attracted the workers' attention. "We need a place to worship," they said.
Why did these troublesome Poles need a church? the authorities wondered. Their new housing even had hot water. But they bought time by nodding agreement.
So several young Christians and a priest pounded a rough cross into the soil to mark the site of their chapel. Soon, however, the Communists returned with a different verdict. "This space," they told the workers, "is needed for something else."
But the people wanted their church. Night after night they gathered around the cross. Priests offered mass; the people sang and celebrated communion. The authorities retaliated with water cannons. Then they tore down the cross, but in the morning the cross was back.
This went on for yearsthe authorities tearing down the cross, the people restoring it. During this struggle the people came to a crucial realization. "The church isn't a building," they said. "It's us, celebrating the presence of our Lord among us!"
Charles Colson in A Dangerous Grace
Respond:
Would I really fight for the right to worship?
Thought to Apply:
The church is the only thing that is going to make the terrible world we are coming to endurable.
Flannery O'Connor (writer)
Adapted from: A Dangerous Grace (Word, 1994)
Copyright © 2001 by the author or Christianity Today, Inc./Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity. 1 of 1
Lord, we thank Thee that we can come to Thee just as we are. But remind us that we dare not leave as we came.
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