REDO!

A Baptist church was destroyed today!

Well, not exactly.

450 pounds of dynamite and 1,200 charges imploded four buildings of an esteemed Dallas institution, First Baptist Church of Dallas. The Burt, Christian Education, Ruth Ray Hunt, and Veal buildings went down in a cascade of smoke and debris at 8:15 yesterday morning. FBC Dallas, a part of the cityscape since the mid-1800s was moving into the 21st century.

When the dust settled, the historic sanctuary still stood, shining in the sunlight. That structure will remain a vital part of the new campus to which the four imploded buildings contributed 600,000 square feet of space.

“Now,” pastor Robert Jeffress declared, “we are seeing the sanctuary in a whole new light.”

Dedicated effort went into protecting this sanctuary, a mere 50 feet from the nearest point of implosion. Plywood covered all the stained glass, and a barrier of dirt prevented debris bouncing off the ground to hit the old building. It was a roaring success!

The new campus includes a new 3000-seat worship center, a new education building, a fountain plaza, a sky bridge across a downtown street, an acre of public green space, etc. Supposedly the most expensive (and extensive) renovation of a Protestant church ever!

All set to open Easter of 2013.

The Gospel of Mark tells the story of another impending implosion, of another institution, in light of another imminent “Easter.” It’s an odd account, one of those Markan “sandwiches,” with a split outer story (the two halves of a “bun”) and an inner story (the “patty”).

The outer story is one of a fig tree that, green and leafy, promised much but didn’t deliver. First half of the “bun”: It had no fruit and, as an object lesson, it was cursed. Second half of the “bun”: Peter’s exclamation.

Peter said to Him [Jesus],
“Rabbi, look, the fig tree
which You cursed has withered.”
Mark 11:21

It’s the inner story, the “beef patty,” that explains the whole passage: Jesus drives out the traders and merchants and moneychangers and dovesellers and other such mercenary folks from the Temple, a glorious edifice that also promised much but wasn’t delivering.

“Is it not written [in Isaiah 56 and Jeremiah 7],
‘My house shall be called a house
of prayer for all the nations’?
But you have made it a ‘robbers’ den.’”
The chief priests and the scribes
heard this, and began seeking
how to destroy Him.
Mark 11:17–18

A malfunctioning institution of worship. It would be imploded.

And Jesus said …
“Do you see these great buildings?
Not one stone will be left upon another
which will not be torn down.”
Mark 13:2

So then what is the proper function of such institutions?

The new community of Christ-followers, the church, Jesus said, would be characterized by two essentials: faith and forgiveness.

A house of prayer that demonstrates faith towards God ….

And Jesus answered saying to them,
“Have faith in God. …
Therefore I say to you,
all things for which you pray and ask,
believe that you have received them,
and they will be granted you.”
Mark 11:22, 24–25

And a house of prayer that displays forgiveness towards one another ….

“Whenever you stand praying, forgive,
if you have anything against anyone,
so that your Father who is in heaven
will also forgive you your transgressions.”
Mark 11:25

The new sanctuary, the body of Christ, the church.

Faith and forgiveness. May those be the characteristics of FBC Dallas and every other church in the world.

A redo … because of the first Easter.