The other day I was reading an article and it referenced the doors to Japanese Tea Houses. That’s super random, I realize. I didn’t know it was a thing, and I certainly knew nothing about the significance of these doors, and the intentionality behind their construction.
But the way the doors to the Tea House were described drew me in to want to learn more. And I think there is something in the imagery of these doors for what it means to follow the example of Jesus.
The door has a special name: Nijiri-guchi.
Here’s a picture of one:
That small entrance was an intentional creation so whenever one would enter the Japanese Tea Ceremony, they would have to kneel before entering. It didn’t matter your role or place in society…to get in, you had to take on the undignified posture of getting on your hands and knees and crawling in. This practice symbolized leaving outside your status, your position or title, your weapon, your pride, your heirarchy of power. Instead, when you enter here, everyone is on level ground.
Speaking of this, one journalist wrote: “One will be a different person altogether when he comes outside of the room, his mind will be at peace for sure.”
There is a peace that comes when we see one another on level ground.
When we remove hierarchies of power and value, we are able to see more clearly that all are image bearers of God. Regardless of background, lifestyle, belief system, social standing or political party, we are image bearers of God. And that brings with it a powerful reality for how we are to treat others, and ourselves.
Our loving Creator hand-crafted each individual who has lived or will ever live. He knit us together in our mother’s womb with purpose and care. In His love He did this, knowing that many of His children would reject Him and turn their back on Him.
Those who claim to be Jesus Followers have a high calling, the call to be holy as God is holy. This means to be set apart. Not just set apart in what we believe about the death, burial, and resurrection, but set apart in our love for one another, our peace-making ability, our love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These spiritual fruit set us apart because they are not normal in our world. They aren’t typical of many interactions between people, especially people who don’t necessarily get along or who are different from us.
Maybe our homes need smaller doors.
Smaller doors so every time we crawl out of our home we are reminded of our humble and yet deeply loved status before the Lord God. Smaller doors so every time we crawl out of our home we are reminded that our neighbor, our enemy, our friend, the poor, the wealthy, the failure, the successful, are just like us. And, if we are going to live as “set apart ones” we can only do that as we embrace this humble status as we see every person around us as a fellow image bearer, treating them with care, compassion, understanding as a way of first response.