The Stolen Steeple
A funny thing happened at our church one day. Our steeple was stolen. Well, to frame it kindly, it went missing.
For those who are not steeple aficionados, a steeple is usually installed at the tallest point of a church building, at the roof’s highest peak. The steeple therefore becomes the new highest point. In fact, because of this many are equipped with a lightning rod.
One fine Monday, on our pastor’s day off, as preschool families were dropping off and before office staff arrived, our steeple was casually removed, hauled away, and destroyed. And no one thought anything of it – at least not enough to question its removal.
I too dismissed concern when later that morning, my husband and I stopped by the church. He immediately noticed and ask me (thinking I, as a church staff member, would be ‘in the know’), “Where is the steeple?” I, practicing Martin Luther’s explanation to the eighth commandment which encourages one to explain everything in the kindest way, came up with a reasonable explanation. “Oh,” I said, “there were some leaks in the accessory buildings. Maybe they found leaks in the sanctuary too and removed the steeple to address them.” I even went into the church office to ask our secretary for confirmation. With no hint of concern, she said that she knew nothing, and the steeple was gone when she arrived. When I reported what she had said, my husband didn’t buy it.
Sure enough, later that day, our pastor called, asking if I knew anything about the missing steeple. “Ugh!” I thought, suddenly realizing that my husband had been right to be concerned. It turns out that this, in fact, was not a planned situation. Our steeple had mistakenly been taken.
Our pastor proceeded to fill me in on the details of the quite unbelievable story. He had just received a call from another local pastor from a church just a few miles up from ours. This congregation had scheduled the removal of their steeple, which remained securely located on their church’s roof. The contracted crew had arrived at the wrong church early in the morning and completed the job without verifying they were in the right location. Sure enough, they ‘stole our steeple’ and hauled it away, where it was trashed before any part of it could be salvaged.
We were aghast. In amazed disbelief, the story spread like wildfire, being re-told among our congregants in the coming days and then throughout the community over the coming months. It took a full year of working with our insurance company and an out-of-state, steeple-building company to have a new steeple built to resemble the stolen steeple and then have it installed.
Lesson Learned:
Martin Luther’s explanation of the eighth commandment -Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor - includes, “put the best construction on everything.” With God’s help, Christians working to keep the Commandments can reference these explanations for practical ways to do so. However, the steeple situation reminded me that God also calls us to be wise and discerning. James 1:5 in the Bible encourages, “If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” Putting the best construction on things does not mean burying our heads in the sand. And questioning out-of-the-ordinary situations is not only reasonable, but doing so may even limit damages or prevent mishaps.
