The Church and the Taj Mahal Mentality

As I was having a shower this morning, I listened to an interview on Radio National with a woman who has recently written a book about the Taj Mahal. I was sort of vaguely interested in the story, but my ears really pricked up when I heard the word "fragmentation."

Some time ago Robert Holmes, when speaking at a seminar we had about moving in the prophetic, prophesied that Narrabri would see increasing fragmentation in the town and in the church. This, he explained, was not God's intention, but nonetheless through the attitudes of people we would see churches increasingly separated from one another, but also civic institutions would go through a similar process.

In fact this is what we have seen in Narrabri. We have gone from a place where nearly all the pastors would meet together weekly to pray to the current place where nobody will pray. Even attempts at getting churches together seem to result in antagonism and splintering.

So I was listening to this programme and the author told the story of how the Taj came to be built. An emperor of the Mogul Empire, centred around modern India, had a wife who dies in childbirth with their 14th child. He was desolated by this. Even though polygamy was acceptable in that culture, she was the only one for him.

So he ordered a great memorial to be built for his wife. In the words of the author, the resulting building was a shrine, a religious temple and an icon of design. It blended the finest white marble with the greatest gemstones from that region and used the finest designers in the Empire.

While the emperor was building his Taj, he neglected the things he should have been overseeing, so that the Empire started to fragment. The building of the Taj marked the high point of the Empire, and the beginning of its decline.

I was struck by this because we have seen two churches which, at one stage, were at the forefront of coming together in unity, over recent years have undergone building programmes which have produced really beautiful religious shrines, icons of design.

But I believe that in dedicating themselves to these buildings, they have neglected what is really important and have allowed fragmentation to take hold in the spirit of the church in Narrabri.

I'm not apportioning blame or judgement in this- they did what seemed right to them and to the glory of God.

But in pursuing a good thing they have missed the best thing.

Can the situation be turned around? With God nothing is impossible.

Meanwhile we need to make sure we avoid the Taj Mahal mentality.