Misgivings About the Building Part 1

Several years ago, I began to have an uneasiness about how some of us, as congregations, are choosing to spend our money on large and lavish facilities. I had an internal debate about it for months and months.

On the one hand, I have been a member of two large churches over the last 46 years…one as a child and one as an adult. I know the rationale…

The skating rink, football fields, and cheerleading program serve as an “outreach” to the community. We’ll draw in people from the community with our facilities and programs and then share Christ with them. We need a large well-appointed foyer to accommodate congregational, as well as, community gatherings. We will serve our community by allowing them to use our facilities. We need to build a larger sanctuary so we can all worship together in one service.  We’re a family and we need to be able to worship together as a whole rather than divided into multiple services because the sanctuary isn’t large enough to accommodate everyone.

I can understand the rationale behind these points. And, over the years, I’ve seen kids from the community join a church football team or attend a lock-in and roller skating party…and eventually develop a relationship with God because of the relationships they made there or the devotional they heard. I’ve seen whole families get involved in church after attending one of these activities…and the facilities played a part in making the activity possible. I’ve seen our building used for school concerts and large funerals.We’ve used the building to house assembly lines of church members preparing care packages for those in need. We’ve hosted both workers and victims during storm relief efforts.

So what could be wrong with having a facility that accommodates such positive work in the community? I wasn’t sure, but I couldn’t shake the uneasiness each time I entered the building.

My mind just kept saying…yes, but on the other hand…

We’re sitting in a 15+ million dollar building. We must not only pay for the building itself, we must also pay thousands of dollars every month for utilities. We pay custodians to keep it pristine. We pay for landscaping and an automatic sprinkler system…and the maintenance that comes with those…to keep the acres of grounds pristine.

And then I saw this video…

World on Fire

…and I was completely convicted by a recording artist’s “secular” video because it so accurately portrays what the Bible has to say about our responsibility to those in need. If $150,000 could make such a huge impact on the world, what would happen if my church resided in a 2 million dollar building and gave 13 million dollars to make an impact on the world? And how many other churches do we know that have as much or more than we have?

From that day on, the battle raged constantly in my heart.

The last 20 months have further honed my perspective.