A sculptor once laid his hammer & chisel on the ground, knelt quietly at the bottom of a large brick of granite, and asked God for a vision of a work that would express the majesty of the Lord’s Sovereignty, the grace of Christ’s love, and the mission of all who believed to so share that same message. As the artist sat quietly in prayer, an image of what must be removed and what must remain began to slowly form in his heart and mind. He began to reach for the hammer and chisel, but was stopped by the man who had given him the raw material for the work – he wanted to know what it would look like so he could tell a group who managed the arts project and they could approve of the final form.
The artist tried to explain, but not only were words not enough, no one seemed to care. He could draw only parts of it and study models did not do it justice. More than this, almost everyone that it was shown or explained to would add their view or concern or idea and very soon it was becoming something altogether different than the artist had seen in his mind. He decided to try to find another place to do the work, but several of the people involved asked him to reconsider saying they would help to maintain the integrity of the work, especially one particular man who seemed to understand the vision. With hope he relented and began.
As he worked diligently for a date that the group had selected to unveil the project, he could not remember all of the details of the vision clearly due to the stress of the time pressure and concern for whether the work would be acceptable to everyone involved. He worked long hours trying to get completed, but the worry caused him to become ill. Several members of the group volunteered to help finish the work based on the discussions they’d previously had and with his direction. He tried to direct, but with so many involved and no vision to guide them most did as they saw fit. The Chairman of the project would come in from time to time make a comment or two that didn't seem to make much sense and then leave. The sculptor found out later the one man who convinced him to stay and start the work had been run off by the others. In the end, the work was completed on time, but was made into something so much less than the artist had seen.
At the unveiling, everyone was very excited and many people acclaimed the artist. Some even understood part of the vision that had been intended to be communicated, but no one saw what the sculptor had been given to show in its fullness. On the day of the unveiling the artist noticed a plaque had been added to the bottom of the work noting the names of everyone involved in securing the resources, as well as a donation box and information flyer holder crudely attached to the side of the work. These were ideas the Chairman had 'suggested' and everyone had agreed not to do this, but apparently at the last minute the Chairman insisted and personally made the modifications. As the project stood prominently for all to see and everyone seemed pleased with it, the sculptor was unsure how to respond except that he knew his heart felt betrayed.
Daily people enjoyed the project, in at least a shallow fashion, but never really understood the vision it was originally intended to communicate. Without any genuine interest or understanding no one bothered to maintain the project, so the grass grew up around it and dirt gathered on it. People even began to vandalize it by chipping parts away for souvenirs or adding their own touches. It eventually became an eye sore, but because of the plaque with the names on it and the fact that people still occasionally put money in the box, they would not remove it. Without any real concern for its beauty or message, no one would fix or restore it either (as if they knew how or could decide to do so if they did). Eventually they added another plaque commemorating its anniversary and success as a uniting project of the group, even though many of the original group had left because they were unhappy with how the Chairman had been running things lately.
The artist still wanders by occasionally, wondering what would have happened if he would have remained committed to the vision that the Lord gave him. One particular night as he sat at the base of the monstrosity he helped to create, he closed his eyes and quietly asked God to let him see the vision clearly just once more. Slowly but surely every detail came into focus in his heart and mind. As the sculptor began to cry, he felt a hand on his shoulder and heard a quiet voice say, “It’s a shame you didn’t do it like you told me about that one time. I’d give you a new block of granite and all the time you ever needed to do it just like you said if you could. That would have been beautiful to see.”
Standing up, looking into the eyes of the man who had been the lone voice of reason on the project group, the artist smiles and says, “It still will be, I just need to go get my hammer and chisel.”
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