“When did the church become a building?” *
A very good question to ask in this particular day and age. Certainly the concept of church did not start out in the same way we experience it now. The foundational understanding of the church was a group of people - a people called out, to be more precise. Thus the emphasis was more on the function of a body of believers and not a descriptor of a particular meeting place.
Ever since the first church buildings appeared during the 300s, there has been a human struggle with how much our earthy structures occupy our time, talent, and money. Today’s culture is no different. Many churches reduce their effectiveness to country-club-level groups that gather together for the intent purpose of building design. Somehow I don’t think carpet shade and paint samples quite capture Jesus’ ideal of the Kingdom of God.
In the last church I was at there was an incredibly large and incredibly useless building that had been recently built. I remember once showing a friend of mine this particular structure and he commented, “This is a great monument. . .really big and stately built with no pragmatic touch.” Indeed, this was a very expensive place that no one could effectively utilize, other than parking clave’s twin-engine prop plane in there.
“How many of the needs of ‘the least of these’ could be met if all the church buildings were sold and the money given to the poor?” *
Too extreme? Perhaps. Perhaps not. I suppose our knee-jerk reactions might be telling in this case as to how we’ve been conditioned to think.
Called to make a difference. . .not ampitheaters.
". . .and for her [wool-knit-altar-kneeler] he died."
*Ole Anthony and Skippy R., “A Handful of Nails” in The Wittenburg Door no. 197 (January/February 2005): 47.
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