Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Freeway Church

As I recently navigated the mess that is Interstate 5 here in the Seattle area, I was suddenly aware of the numerous ways that the freeway is similar to the church. The main way that I saw this idea unfold was in the way that the cars on the freeway are ultimately connected with each other, as the actions of one vehicle has such drastic impact on all the rest. It only takes sitting stopped in a traffic jam on the highway to realize this truth. The same is true for the church. What those around us in the church are doing greatly affects our lives. As Paul illustrates so beautifully through imagery of the body, we are all spokes in this cosmic wheel of life, where we each naturally and metaphysically impact each other in ways we may never even realize.

Another thing I was thinking about was the way in which people getting on and off the freeway impacts our own journey. If you think about the interstate near you, it is the on and off ramps of the road that cause the most congestion as cars must adjust to their new fellow journeyers. The same is true on our voyage of life and faith. As new people come and go from our lives, we must constantly make adjustments to the way we are traveling as we invite them into our space and we are thrust into their space as well.

A final thing I was pondering was the idea that as we journey through life we must be humble and aware enough to speed up and slow down depending on the circumstances. As we travel in our cars we know that sometimes the best thing is to speed up and "go with the flow" of traffic, while at other times it is necessary for us to slow down and be patient during that stretch of the road. The same is true of our faith journey. We must constantly be aware of who we are journeying with and whether we should move forward with quickness, beckoning those behind to pick up speed, or when to be patient, as we wait for those we journey with to gain ground so we might travel together.

5 comments:

  1. I may use this someday Jason. It's a great simile isn't it? We're all on a spiritual journey, travelling at different places, speeds, with others, etc.... I like this a lot!

    BTW, have you read The Shack yet? I've just started it, very theological but not difficult book to read.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I may use this someday Jason. It's a great simile isn't it? We're all on a spiritual journey, travelling at different places, speeds, with others, etc.... I like this a lot!

    BTW, have you read The Shack yet? I've just started it, very theological but not difficult book to read.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Interesting. Christian history has used the metaphor of walking to describe similar concepts, but the concept of an interstate is different. I am not sure if I like the idea of an interstate instead of a trail or path. But it is probably true to a lot of people's experience.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Clint--I see what you are saying, but my context is that I live downtown in a city of 3 million. I think that Jesus' stories and Paul's metaphors would have been very different if they were living in our culture.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I agree with Clint and Jason. I think ultimately the Word of God wants to be described, or translated in a sense to each situation and person. Granted there is a final truth, and we should not accept total pluralism. But "I will be a Jew to the Jews, I will be a Roman to the Romans..." I think Paul would also agree that Sometimes to make your point you must make it imperfectly. For me in my current context I very much can see the wheel analogy. ie, i work in a bike shop! Though unlike Paul I have wheels that are so advanced it changes the metaphor drastically, yet is it still a good metaphor to my life, the church, faith?

    ReplyDelete