Just a thought or two...

This morning, I read an article out of a church newsletter from a church I've been associated with in the past. The article made me laugh...not because it was funny...but because it was so ridiculous that I had to laugh because I was so upset at the comparisons being made between a building project and a passage of Scripture.

Here's the basics...This church has entered a building campaign called "A Faith for Today: a Building for Tomorrow." It has the whole, "if you build it, they will come" philosophy behind it. In fact, their youth group recently made a t-shirt that has the building plan on the front and says, "Build It..." and on the back it says, "So, they can come." This would imply that no one can currently come...only if they build a new building will more people be able to come.

I wondered where this mentality came from (well, I had my ideas) and in reading the pastors newsletter article, it became clear. The pastor takes the Scripture of Mark 2:1-12, where Jesus heals a paralytic, and compares it to building a new addition on to the church. It's pretty funny stuff really. The story from Mark speaks of how Jesus was teaching in a house and the crowds were so huge, no one could get in. So, this paralytic had some friends that just knew if they could get him closer to Jesus he would be healed. The guys dig a hole through the roof and lower the guy down to Jesus. Jesus sees their faith, forgives their sins, and heals their friend.

So, the pastor says that in order to bring ones friends...and strangers...to Jesus they need a new facility. And, this seems to be the mindset with a lot of modern churches. They build so people can come. But, from reading this story, you would think that people were digging holes in the roof of the sanctuary or fighting for parking spaces or seats. But, that's simply not the case. Just look at the sanctuary they built several years ago. The thought was that the old sanctuary was too small and didn't allow room for growth. So, the plan was put together to build a new sanctuary. And, this sanctuary is fantastic...it's absolutely beautiful! But, it's pretty much never reached it's full capacity on a Sunday morning. Not one of the three services is pushing the limits for parking or seating. In the newsletter article, the pastor reports that the Sunday school teachers say the classrooms are fine for what they are doing.

I know I'm just ranting here...But, hey, it's my blog...I can rant if I want. The main reason for my rant is that I see this too often in the church....Messages that communicate the only way to grow is to build a new building. This type of thought implies that growth has nothing to do with an excited heart, solid preaching, and excellent ministries...it's all got to do with space. Hmmm...Jesus never had a huge building...He didn't even have a home. You know, this same pastor preached a message a few weeks ago comparing this building project to Jonah going into Nineveh. Interesting...so does that mean they don't really want to build this project, but God keeps telling them to? Or does it mean that God is calling them to go into the city and proclaim his message? I don't know about the first question...maybe God is continually telling them to do this and they have been resisting. On the second question...They aren't going anywhere! So, I don't really see how building a new building on your current property is anything like going into a town and proclaiming a message that causes an entire city to repent.

Well, that's enough for now.