The Bigger Picture

Years ago while visiting a Frank Lloyd Wright designed home in Buffalo, New York, the tour guide told our group that he collected Frank Lloyd Wright hate mail. That stunned us because Wright home docents usually fawned over the man and his work, as if he were perfect. Yet for posterity, this fellow spent many years collecting and preserving letters between Wright and his clients that were generally of a less than pleasant nature. He went on to share a story about two unmarried sisters and Frank Lloyd Wright.

The sisters commissioned Wright to design a residence, its furnishings, light fixtures, china, flatware and even the linens. They wanted him to design everything down to the smallest detail. He did, and he did it very well. They were completely satisfied with his work. If you’re wondering where the hate mail comes in, I’m getting to it. Years after the project was finished, Frank Lloyd Wright paid the sisters a visit. He often visited clients, but not so much to see them; he was bad with his money, and would “visit” his former clients and attempt to persuade them to pay him more money since he had somehow undercharged them for his services the first time around. However, this particular visit didn’t sour because of money.

Upon arriving and walking through the house, Wright noticed that everything was in the exact same spot he had placed it years earlier. The building he had designed as a home for the two sisters was being kept like a museum. Incensed by this, he picked up an ashtray (which of course he designed) and slammed it down onto the coffee table in the living room, leaving a Frank Lloyd Wright designed gouge in the once pristine table. He then proceeded to tell the two horrified sisters, “This house was designed to be lived in! It should look like it.” In his eccentric and unique way, the man who had designed every aspect of the house down to the smallest of details was pointing out that the two sisters had missed the bigger picture. The bigger picture was that they were supposed to enjoy and live in their house – make it a home. It was never intended to be a museum; that’s what the Guggenheim was for in New York City. In return, the sisters, through their lawyers, pointed out the bigger picture to Wright as well. Thou shalt not damage a Frank Lloyd Wright designed coffee table, even if you’re Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright was required to make restitution and buy them a new coffee table for their personal museum.

It is not unusual for people to cherish things that are special, particularly things that are crafted with such skill and care; but there is an inherent danger of becoming fixated on the smallest of details and missing the bigger picture. We often fail to use the “special” because we are focused on it, rather than what it was designed for in the first place. Unfortunately, the same can be said of spiritual gifts and the church. God has carefully crafted and given spiritual gifts to every believer. He has created each of us uniquely beyond anything we can fathom, and He paid the highest of prices to redeem us and make the Church. God has been involved with and cares about each of us to the very smallest of details. As a result of the greatest of prices, He has been able to give us good gifts. That’s awesome and we should never forget that. We should respect and prize these gifts, but more importantly, we are supposed to use them (1 Peter 10-11). Like the two sisters (all prim and proper) advising each other to be careful not to dent, ding, or damage Mr. Wright’s work, the Church is often all prim, proper, and stiff so as to not ding, dent or damage God’s work. Both miss the point.

If you are a teacher, ask yourself, “Do I love teaching more than the people I teach?” If you have the gift of prophecy, ask yourself, “Do I love the message more than the people whom God wants to hear the message?” If you are a pastor or an elder, ask yourself, “Am I more concerned about the institution than the people God is bringing into the Church?” If you have the gift of administration, ask yourself, “Am I more interested in order than the people stepping up and using their gifts, especially because there might be some dings, dents, and messes?” Every detail of God’s work is beautiful, yet I can see Him denting the “coffee table” or, for that matter, the Church if we miss the bigger picture. The bigger picture is simply this: we are not supposed to love the gift more than the Giver, and we are not supposed to love “the Church” more than the people who are the Church.

The Church and the gifts God gives are opportunities for me to love God and love others, as He loves me. They are opportunities for you too.

Grace to you.

Dave Paukner