Thinking about stained glass

Alan Knox brought the song Stained Glass Masquerade by Casting Crowns to mind as he commented about another post written by Arthur Sido at The Voice Of One Crying Out In Suburbia titled : hiding behind our suits and smiles

 "The way we do church, gathering on schedule for an hour to “worship” leads to people hiding their hurting behind smiling faces and their Sunday best. We are rarely honest with each other because we spend so little time together. We need to get out of the pew and get into the lives and homes and families of other believers.

I get what they are saying:  the church is hiding behind stained glass and putting on a show for one another.  There is no intimate connectedness in any way that allows us to bear one another's burdens as we should.  I say we should stop hiding behind the stained glass and become like stained glass.  We should be transparent like glass although our lives are stained with sin, suffering and imperfections.

The Bible has a lot to say about the difference between the darkness and the light.  When we hide our lives from others it is like we are living in the dark.  Things cannot be hidden in the light.  The light exposes them for all to see.  I believe that the way we hide from one another is darkness that must be driven out by the light.  As the light begins to shine through the stained glass which is our lives it is then that the beauty of Christ's work can be seen by others.  Stained glass is not beautiful unless the light is shining through it.