A Bowl of Marbles

Brother Dave sat across from me in the booth at McDonald’s. This place has affectionately been renamed “McChurch,” because some of the best fellowship and most edifying conversations have taken place right here.

McChurch doesn’t have a pulpit, a worship team, or even a designated door greeter. What it lacks in structure is more than made up for by what it does have—people with a genuine love for Jesus Christ and His Word.

I’ve seen a wide variety of Christian pilgrims at McChurch. Some are veterans of the Way, looking for a place to sit, rest, and reflect on God with fellow brothers and sisters before continuing on. Others are new pilgrims, just taking their first steps along the narrow path, seeking encouragement for the trials of life and reassurance that they are on the One Way street.

As Brother Dave and I talked, an image came to mind.

A bowl of marbles.

To the world, we might look like a collection of marbles—different sizes, shapes, colors, and degrees of clarity. Some polished, some rough, some bright, some still a bit cloudy. But whatever we look like on the outside, God sees our hearts. And every marble in the bowl has been formed by His hand.

And there’s something else I thought about.

There are those who gather in places like this—simple settings, over coffee, with no structure—just believers sharing life with Jesus. And there are those who gather within the walls of the institutional church, sitting in pews, worshiping together, and hearing the Word taught.

From the outside, it can look like two different groups of Christians.

But as I sat there, the image stayed with me.

One bowl.
Many marbles.

Different places… different settings… different expressions…
but the same Lord.

Some meet Him in a sanctuary.
Some meet Him on a park bench.
Some meet Him in a booth at McChurch.

The world may see different groups.

But I believe God sees just one.

One body.
One people.
All drawn to Him.

_______

“For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.” 1 Corinthians 12:12 (NKJV)