The Museum – The Reveal

Spoiler alert:  If you want to try guessing the meaning behind my symbolic short story The Museum for yourself, please go there now before you continue reading.

Still here? Then here we go.

The museum represents Christianity. Each wall symbolizes a different denomination. The paintings featured on each wall represents a central focus of that denomination based on my observations when visiting different denominations over the years.

The first wall is Catholicism with their main focus on the Eucharist.

The second wall is Baptist with their main focus on the Bible.

The third wall is Assembly of God and Pentecostal with their enthusiastic worship services. The different languages spoken by the people gathered there represents their belief in tongues.

The fourth wall is the Seventh Day Adventist with their focus on following the laws, especially the Sabbath.

The fifth wall is nondenominational churches – the swirls representing the freedom from traditional denominational boundaries.

The groups of people in front of each painting are the ones that have been drawn to that particular denomination based on likes, dislikes, needs, as well as other factors. Just like people have different personalities, denominations also have different personalities. And when people find the one that fits them the best, the one that meets their needs the best, they stay there.

The people still walking around the room are Christians who are still searching for their church home, and non-Christians exploring Christianity.

 

How close was your guess?

I know some people won’t agree with me, but I believe, for the most part, that having different denominations is a good thing. I think it’s quite possible that God may be behind the formation of many of the denominations that exist today. There are reasons why I believe this, but I won’t get into that now.

I’m aware that having different denominations is confusing to non-Christians. But I believe that’s because of how we Christians have handled it. If we really respected each other, and didn’t try to steal each other’s members – but instead worked together to point non-Christians to Jesus, then helped them find their right fit regardless of whether it’s in our own denomination or not, I think we would be amazed at the result.

Just saying.

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The Museum (a symbolic short story)

Apryl walked through the groups of people that wandered through the many rooms of the museum. As she walked, she was drawn to a room that seemed much brighter than all the others, as if the light within it came from something other than the florescent lights used by the rest of the museum. Curious, she made her way to it and went inside.

Whereas most of the rooms in the museum had been rectangular, this room had way more than four walls. She looked around and counted at least six before the room IMG_20180523_202035005disappeared around a corner. One huge painting, framed and centered, was on each wall. There were different size groups of people standing in front of each painting,  seemingly to be content with that one painting and not interested in any of the others. Other people moved from painting to painting, spending various amounts of time studying the painting before moving on. Occasionally someone would end their tour and settle in front of one of the paintings.

Apryl walked up to the nearest painting. It was a painting of a loaf of bread and a goblet of wine. She had seen paintings like this before, but somehow this one seemed more real. The people standing in front of it were quiet and reverent, rarely taking their eyes off of it.

After a few minutes, Apryl moved on to the next painting. A large Bible was featured in this one. A large group of people were standing around, exchanging self-controlled greetings and pointing to the painting from time to time.

The next painting was of a party. Everyone at the party appeared happy and excited, blowing streamers and raising their arms in victory gestures. The multi-ethnic group gathered here were just as excited as the people in the painting, slapping each other on their backs and speaking in a variety of languages.

Amazed at the differences in both the paintings and the groups of people who had settled at each one, Apryl couldn’t wait to see what she’d find next.

Moving as quickly as she could through the party people, she got to the next painting.  It featured the ten commandments carved on stone, just like what most people imagine Moses’ stone tablets had looked like. The people here were friendly, orderly, and inviting. As much as she enjoyed their interest in her, she moved on to the next one.

She was surprised at what she found in this painting. It was a beautiful swirl of colors with no distinct form that she could see. The people here were also a beautiful mixture of colors and sizes. She liked this one a lot but knew there were others to explore.

As she continued around the room, looking at painting after painting, and noticing how the groups of people in front of each resembled the contents of the paintings, it suddenly dawned in her what this room was all about and what these painting were and why the people were grouped as they were.

She looked up and said, “You know, God, You’re pretty cool. You made each of us unique and then provided for that uniqueness. And I, for one, am grateful!”

 

Apryl figured out the symbolism. Have you?

Tell me your best guess in the comments. I’ll reveal my meaning tomorrow in a special post, but I’m pretty sure some of you will think of even deeper meanings than mine! Have fun!