The Infamous Swear Jar

Ever utilized a swear jar?  I have to say that in spite of my colorful
language usage in high school, I was able to conquer that habit
without the help of an outside aid.
Our faith community will be moving to an off site location in a couple weeks and we have received the blessing? of a building in which to meet.  Now I have to say that I was very leery of having a building to call our own as it has the tendency to define your future much more than we often realize.  Certain factors such as the size, location, layout and even the look of the building can have a tremendous impact on a new faith community. We learned this reality in our last mission in Illinois.  But perhaps, even more importantly, inheriting a building can have a negative impact on how we express our faith as well.  Our words often betray us.

In the Old Testament the tabernacle contained the sanctuary, where the presence of God rested.  But when Jesus have up his life on the cross, the curtain that separated that holy place from the greater community was torn right down the middle and the presence of God was unleashed and no longer subject to a physical space.  Then the New Testament is very deliberate in pointing out the fact that the sanctuary has moved from a room in a building to the heart.  However, our language and practice often betrays this transition.   Most churches still call the main meeting room a sanctuary.  This allows us to become very attached to our buildings.  Instead, our lives should mirror what
happened when the curtain was torn in two.  The presence of God has been released into our hearts and we now carry that presence outside of the building and into our homes and neighborhood and workplace.

So back to the swear jar.  We have been joking all summer since we decided to use the building that we should have a swear jar with special rules…

• whenever someone refers to the building as “the church” it will cost them $1

• whenever someone refers to the. Room in which we will meet as the “sanctuary” it will cost them $1

This exercise will allow us to maintain our focus on the building
being used as a public space and not as a religious security blanket.
I think its a small thing, yet a much needed preventative measure to
ensure that we refrain from developing an unhealthy attachment to the
building.   Its ok for the building to have a deep meaning in the life
of a faith community, but in the end we don’t worship the building.
Your thoughts.

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