I’ve not been able to get this out of my head.
I persistently worship with a song whose lyrics read:
I will make room for you
To do whatever you want to
And I mean it.
But then I walk through our town and cannot ignore the massive demolition that is underway. At present there are no specific plans for rebuilding anything here; the purpose is just to ‘open up’ the whole area, removing the derelict, depressing and empty shops and ‘create space’.
It resonates, because as a church we are committed to “Praying and creating space for renewal in ourselves and our communities.” Which begs the question: ‘What needs to be demolished – in me, and perhaps in us – in order to create space; to make room.
It’s significant that the lyrics of the worship song go on to uncomfortably declare:
Shake up the ground of all my tradition
Break down the wall of all my religion
Traditions are not necessarily wrong, but Jesus insists that we can easily use them to simply avoid obeying God (Mk 7:13). Paul warns that human tradition will ensnare us in philosophical & spiritual dead-ends (Col 3:8) and ‘self-made religion’ is utterly powerless to transform us (Col 2:23).
Therefore, Paul states, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Cor 10:5)
If I am to ‘make space’ for deeper renewal in my life then some things have to go. Not merely adapted or adjusted, they have to be demolished. My intellectual arrogance and conceited opinions are no better that the vacant shops: derelict, depressing and empty.
My thought-life needs to be taken captive by Jesus.
And, to the degree that I persistently and sacrificially offer myself to God, his Spirit within me will do precisely this, ‘transforming me by the renewal of my mind’ (Rom 12:2).
So, Heart Teacher, as I watch the demolition process continue in the town, and observe the space that is created, help me to recognise things in my life that need pulling down to make more room for you, such that I can – with integrity – sing:
Here is where I lay it down
You are all I’m chasing now
This is my surrender
