Apples, Dandelions, and Horse Manure

All of us have a grid for understanding things. Generally speaking that grid is something we inherited from others, and we generally don't think too much about it. It is like the air around us, we don't really think about it unless something is wrong with it, and even then, we might not notice. It takes a fairly perceptive fish to realize he is wet, (after all, to a fish there is nothing that isn't wet, so the distinction between wet and dry isn't even a real possibility).

When it comes to church, my grid growing up was something along the lines of 'ceremony/ritual' mixed in with a little 'school/self help.'

I would imagine that this is typical for most of us?

I would like to suggest three other metaphors, however, that might be a better grid for understanding church. 'Better', here means closer to the picture that scripture paints of church, and closer to God's heart for His church...

These are the metaphors we explored this past Sunday as possible helps to accurate understanding:

Apples, Dandelions, and Horse Manure