The Church Behind the Church
From an aerial view, I found myself looking down upon a great mass of people - millions, tens of millions, maybe more. Towering before this great mass were spires, many of them, lined up closely side-by-side. These vertical towers stretched from horizon to horizon. Each one differed from the others in its appearance. Each tower was squeezed in between two others so that all butted up against the ones on either side. Some of these spires were grand and majestic and noble. Others were plain and mundane. Some were tall and modern. Others were short and antiquated. Some had crosses on them. Others didn't. Some were wide. Many more were narrow. Some were glistening and grandiose. Others were drab. But each spire had its place.
Each spire was portrayed in a way as to attract attention to itself. Some overlapped those beside them. Some were overshadowed by the size of others. Some drew attention to their majesty. Others drew attention to their modesty. Few drew attention to their Creator. Some were nearly lost in the busyness of the whole scene. The juxtaposition of one spire to the next, and the contrasts between them, made the whole image dizzying. This mixture had the appearance of a poorly conceived patchwork quilt, making the wall that the masses was looking at almost indiscernible as to what it actually was. However, the skyline was distinctive, and clearly revealed what was represented. You could see spire stacked next to spire for as far as the eye could see - pinnacles proudly extending themselves upward. I noticed that the tightness of their formation next to one another made it impossible to see past them.
Upon closer examination, I observed that each of the spires had something written on it - "Lutheran", "Charismatic", "Catholic", "Messianic", "Pentecostal", "Methodist", "Apostolic", "Brethren", "Presbyterian", "Friends", "Church of God", "Anglican", "Independent", "Orthodox", "Mennonite", "Episcopal", "Baptist", "Church of Christ", etc. They were all there; every denomination, every non-denomination, every organization, every church, every Christian initiative, every fellowship, every "faith". It went on and on. Each spire was unique in its appearance. Together they made up a spectacular, yet distasteful collage.
The Holy Spirit revealed to me that this is how the world saw the Church. And they mocked. They made jokes about each of the different spires. They ridiculed the gaudiness of the assortment. They pointed out the hypocrisies of the various segments. They pointed to the defects of others. They spoke with derision about the conflicts between different factions. They laughed. They sneered. They spat.
And my spirit was grieved.
Then the Lord began to move me from that vantage point. He took me up and over the top of the spires, around to the back side. From here I could see what the world could not. The wall of towers that they saw was not a series of buildings constructed close together after all, but rather a thin, flimsy exterior being held up by supports. It was a façade! It was like a mock western movie set made up of fake storefronts. What seemed to be solid from the front, was clearly unsteady when viewed from the back. What the world saw was a surrealistic representation of the Church, made up of a mixture of man’s ideas, Truth, and heresy. However, it was impossible for them to know which was which amidst the jumble before them.
But then I began to see THE CHURCH!
I saw the hand of the Lord reaching into a section of the façade from the back side, and pull something out. Although the façade appeared to be constructed of wood, the hand of the Lord reached into it and gently pulled out a brick. Only this brick was not made of clay. It was like pure crystal - perfectly clear. He took this brick and set it in place, along with others like it, behind the façade. Then He reached into another section of the façade and pulled out another crystal brick. He continued to do this, pulling crystal bricks out from all over the back side of the façade. Each one He would carefully position in its proper place. Every brick fit perfectly where He placed it, and all were like pure crystal.
What I saw the Lord building was breathtaking! It was a structure of such elegance, such splendor, such magnificence! This was no collage. This was no façade. It had the appearance of a large majestic cathedral, only constructed of pure crystal, reflecting the true image of Christ. No edifice that man has ever built even approaches the beauty of what I saw. It was radiant - literally! The resplendent glory of Christ, the Cornerstone, shown up through, and was magnified out from, each of the crystal bricks, which were no longer distinguishable individually.
This was THE CHURCH, the ekklesia, the called outones!
The Lord had been working on it for thousands of years, and although it was not yet complete, it was well-advanced. But it could not be seen by the world yet.
Then suddenly I was looking at this same image, but a period of time had passed and I was in the future. I don't know how long it had been. But, the Church that the Lord was building was complete - standing immovable, without equal, still hidden behind the facade. And now it was time for the world to see it!
The world had continued in their state of mockery of the Church since I had seen them last. But something was beginning to happen. It was like a deep rumbling was beginning to take place, shaking everything. Suddenly, I could see from the back side the hand of the Lord strike the facade. In a moment of time, like the veil of the temple that was rent when Christ was crucified, the façade was split in half. It fell flat, sending debris and dust flying.
There was confusion and panic by most on the other side. Some were triumphing in the fact that the "Church" had fallen. Then, a nervous hush began to settle over the masses. The air began to clear. I could hear gasps coming from the crowd. For standing there, seen by the world for the first time in its true glory, was the Church - pure, spotless, without blemish, majestic, powerful.
In stunned, dreadful awe the world was saying, "Where did this come from?" The gravity of what they were beholding began to sink in. There was no more mockery. There were no more jokes. There was no more faults to be found. There was no more gaudy imitation. There was no more hypocrisy. There was no more division. How could there be? There was only Christ - and His Bride, the Church, left standing!