A few months ago I walked into a big Catholic church in the small town Bergerac in France.  A huge statue of the Virgin Mary was placed at the altar – and the pathetic sight of a lolling cross with a crucified Christ met me on the floor on the right side of the altarpiece.

Now, some of my Catholic friends would say to me, “We now it´s wrong, but where can we go?  We want a “safe” church room to be at!”

I recently went into a clinch with an atheist who admitted that he was awestricken by the Catholic room that has so much for the eye to see.  Indeed, the well equipped religious room has much to offer for the deceitful religious senses.  That makes its idolatry so subtle.

In Bergerac, in that big church, the few minutes I spent there were meaningful though, as I had the glorious opportunity to share the gospel in my poorest French with three women who didn´t mind being interrupted by a stranger all the way from Denmark.

The national, Lutheran church in Denmark, to which 80% of our people belong, is, I dare say, as apostate as the Roman church.   It still has the Bible (though widely ignored) and gospel doctrines in their symbolic books, but in practice it´s spiritually dead.   So, “where can we go?”

Peter put the question right, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life!”  (John 6:68).  The quest was not for a room, but for a person, the person of Jesus Christ and His word.  If that kind of quest is there, you´ll soon find together with others like minded, who are not looking for a religious room, but for spiritual fellowship.  And I´m more and more convinced that as the very first Christians met “in the homes” (Acts 2:46, Norwegian transl.) they will end up there at the close of this dispensation.

“We are His house!”  (Hebr. 3:6, Danish transl.) and we´re going to dwell on that word at our next house gathering rejoicing in the fact that wherever God´s people are gathered unto the name of Christ  (Matth. 18:20), His house is there.  You need no other room!

June 9, 2013 – jn