The Most Beautiful Wedding Dress Ever
I had a conversation with a friend the other night, one of those conversations that starts before midnight and ends when you suddenly realize that the sun has come up. It was a good conversation. We talked about all kinds of things. But one of the things we talked about has really stuck out in my mind, and it has to do with so-called ‘projected holiness.’ This topic seems to have been a hot one recently on the little circle of blogs that I read. Check out Adam’s post, Todd’s post and my post. You’ll see what I mean.
Anyway, the question came up about what you do when someone is actively living in sin? Do you approach them and try to ‘restore them in a spirit of gentleness’, or do you ignore the problem lest we be accused of being too legalistic?
In order to give you my answer, let me ask a different question: How many brides of Christ are there? One — the Church. The Christians, together as a whole, are the bride of Christ. We are not a bunch of individual brides of Christ running around, together we are one. In a way, we are a part of each other, and we will be that way for all of eternity.
If you’re a woman, how young were you when you started planning your wedding? And, as you plan that wedding, how do you want things to look? Good or bad? Or maybe good isn’t good enough. Maybe you want things to be perfect. The perfect man, the perfect church, the perfect cake, the perfect colors and flowers, the list could go on and on. But there is one thing that everyone looks forward to at the wedding, especially the bride and groom…the wedding dress, and the bride who is wearing it.
You know, women used to make their own wedding dresses. It was a big deal. They poured their heart and soul into making that dress, not so that they would look pretty. Oh, of course they wanted to look pretty, but there was something more important, being beautiful for the groom. They didn’t want the groom to see any spots or imperfections on their dress. And women still don’t, although they don’t make their own dresses any more, in most cases. But the point is, that the bride prepares herself for the groom to see her. And she goes to an incredible amount of work to make herself beautiful in his eyes.
Now, let’s take that same principle and apply it to the Church being the bride of Christ. Firstly, shouldn’t we be preparing ourselves for our eternal Groom now? And just how do we go about preparing ourselves? Well, righteousness - being right in God’s eyes - is a good place to start. And as we head down that path to righteousness we find ourselves becoming more and more prepared for our wedding day. But, I can’t get ready for my wedding to the King without you also getting ready, and vice-versa. Remember? There is only one bride of Christ: the Church, all of us put together.
When we are presented to Christ as His bride, we will each make up a piece of the wedding gown. And, let me tell you, I want that gown to be stunning. I want it to be the most beautiful wedding gown in the history of the universe! Not for me, for Christ. It’s, in some small way, my gift to Him, our gift to Him.
So, if you see me stumble or sin I am dragging our wedding gown through the mud, and the same goes if I see you in sin. It’s up to me to keep my piece of the dress clean, but sometimes I need a helping hand or a gentle reminder…and sometimes, so do you.
July 8th, 2007 |
Sometimes it’s only after I’ve gotten the dress completely trashed dancing childishly around in it that when it’s time to think about putting it on, I think oh no I’ve gotten it dirty I can’t put this on for the practice and God’s says come on we’re waiting, it’s you I care about not the dress.
God’s got the perfect cleaner for the dress, but once I made a mistake like that I don’t want to make it again, but it’s possible for it to happen in a different way, cause I really want to have a look, it’s my nature, my will has to be strenghtened by him to know it will be perfect, don’t even try it until then.
January 18th, 2007 |
J: Amen.
January 17th, 2007 |
@chet: This is true. My thoughts about a wedding dress are just a small part of a much, much larger picture. One so big, we can’t fully comprehend it! That’s not to say that we can’t accurately know what we are capable of understanding, but there are some things that are beyond our understanding. The enormity of our marriage to our Groom, our King, is definitely one of those things that goes beyond our ability to understand fully.
@natty: Thank you for your insights. I just realize that I stereotyped women a little bit. I didn’t intend to belittle the God-given diversity that exists in people’s tastes. Isn’t it amazing how we can all be so unique, and so different, and yet God has a way to speak to each of us in a way that is personal an intimate, even if it doesn’t make any sense to anyone else?
January 17th, 2007 |
Not to rebut your article in any way… I just have to say, I think I may be one of the ONLY females on the PLANET who didn’t spend one iota of my time as a little girl dreaming of my wedding. In fact, even when I WAS engaged and planning a wedding several years ago, the whole scene just felt absurd to me–it didn’t fit for me. Ultimately, and for a variety of reasons, the wedding never happened. Weddings and “The Dress” and all that hooplah are fine for other poeple, it’s just not how I’ve ever pictured myself. Perhaps that’s because my path has been one that seems tobe leading me to the convent? Thank God my community doesn’t entrance ceremonies after weddings anymore either. Call me non-traditional, I’ve just never been able to get into all that.
Again, I am not knocking your metaphor or your conclusions, just thought I’d share how some of that symbolic language falls flat with me on a personal level.
January 17th, 2007 |
I am inclined to think about this most beautiful wedding in history to be a bit more than that. It is the culmination of history itself, of Gods eternal plan. It is the wedding of the King, the last King, the only King. There will never be a wedding like this again, nor will we, as the bride, get another shot at perfecting our gown. So we should be striving much harder to please our King/Groom than we are now.
Now, I don’t want to say that we will disappoint Jesus. I don’t think God would allow such a failure. (This leads to other conversations, but I don’t want to go there.) We, however, most probably will feel some sort of shame as we enter eternity finally realizing what its all about. We won’t go into an eternal depression, but I am certain that our regrets will only make our thanks, worship, and praise all the more meaningful. I talk about regret with the Judgment Seat of Christ in mind. I see the Bride - Groom, and the JSoC^ as two sides of the same coin. Correct me if I’m off.
January 17th, 2007 |
Good stuff Joe.
January 17th, 2007 |
Interesting analogy.