When starting a new movement it becomes necessary to identify things you are for and things you are against. This can be a daunting task for a new church like CityWide Fellowship. In many ways, no category clearly defines us. We are not exactly a house church. We are not exactly a cell church. Another link on our website discusses this conundrum we face in finding a definitive word to describe our vision. We are definitely not a typical church.
The same sort of problem arises when the matter of “church buildings” becomes a topic of discussion. The answer may not be so clear. Are we for or against “church buildings” at CityWide Fellowship? Well, yes we are. And, well, no we are not. It is not the brick and mortar structure (or metal in some cases these days) that is so much the problem, but it is the “church building mentality.” I’m not sure you can altogether separate the cause and effect relationship in regard to church buildings. This is why I am “against” them. But, neither can you blame the structure for the attitude of those using them. So, that’s why I am not against church buildings in principle.
CityWide Fellowship uses buildings. They are called “homes.” We also utilize coffee shops and other places to gather as the church. However, we avoid becoming slaves to property and locality. We desire to follow the New Testament pattern of meeting together “primarily” in homes as small-groups (LifeCircles) and only secondarily in large-group settings as the Spirit leads and utilizing existing, available space to rent. This relieves our church of the burden to use mission money to maintain a brick and mortar structure. The financial benefit of not owning buildings is a huge incentive to follow the New Testament pattern, but is not the primary reason that buildings designated for “sacred use” are a problem. The “edifice attitude” will be the focus of this article.
THE EDIFICE ATTITUDE
I want to borrow an outline from Howard Snyder’s paradigm-shifting book entitled, The Problem with Wineskins. He does a great job outlining the problematic attitude that developed (and continues to develop) when church buildings become a fixture in a spiritual community.
First, church buildings are a testament to the church’s immobility. Even a shallow reading of such passages at the Great Commission leads to the conclusion that God intends His people to be a mobile people – people on the go for God, if you will. It is a cliché, but one with some power to say, the word, “gospel,” begins with “go!” But, it is not a cliché to point out that when God decided to have a place in which His Presence could dwell he chose a portable tent. The Bible calls it the tabernacle, or “tent of meeting.” The original Hebrew word means “dwelling place.” From the beginning God did not want people to confine their worship of Him to one place or one people. Mobility has always been God’s plan for His people – people on a mission. Oh, but someone might say, “What about the temple?” Well, read closely. The Bible says that the temple was David’s idea, not God’s. The tabernacle versus the temple will be left for another more in depth study. For now, the issue is that brick and mortar buildings testify to the church’s immobility – and therefore, greatly reduced effectiveness.
Second, church buildings are testaments to the church’s inflexibility. As soon as the walls go up the church begins to program activities determined by the size and design of the building. The church program becomes as fixed as the pews fastened to the floor. You can exchange the pews for chairs but the effect and attitude remains the same. A few churches experiment with “multi-purpose” rooms, but the change is more cosmetic than constructive. It just seems to be some cosmic law that fixed walls lead to a fixed program. Some may argue that this does not need to be the case, but that does not change the fact that it is the case. One Christian leader says that having a building is a little like the shoe determining the size of the foot rather than the foot determining the size of the shoe. Bricks and mortar just are not very flexible. They create an inflexible mindset.
Third, church buildings testify to our lack of fellowship. Next time you are in church take note of what you see directly in front of you. You most likely see the back of someone’s head. Church sanctuaries are designed for passive listening, not passionate communication. How are we to “spur one another on to love and good works” during worship (Heb. 10:24) if we are staring at the back of someone’s head? Now, churches will add Sunday School rooms and a fellowship hall hoping to create the warm sharing atmosphere that you find in a living room – but, this seems to ignore the problem rather than address it. In fact, most people seem quite comfortable coming to church, getting a hit of religion like a junky getting a hit of dope, and then slipping back into the world. It will be at least seven days (longer for part time attenders) before the people meet up again. This attitude is foreign to the idea of church that we find in the Bible. The Bible describes the early believers (church founders) as “steadfastly devoting themselves to fellowship” (Acts 2:42). Fellowship is more than sharing coffee and cookies. Fellowship is the sharing of each other’s lives in a passionate, regular basis. Homes are ideal for building relationships and encouraging fellowship. The Early Church recognized the value of meeting in homes.
Fourth, church buildings testify to the church’s pride. We insist that “nothing is too good for God.” That’s a proposition that is hard to argue against. Except, even our most impressive buildings with the most exquisite fixtures cannot impress the God who “sits on a throne among the stars and uses the earth as a footstool” (Acts 7:49). Mostly churches are built to give us a good feeling about ourselves. We try to justify how a well-designed, ornately furnished building assists in attracting people to the church. One man said this is a little like, “wrapping a diamond in tin foil to help sell.” Fact is, more often than not church buildings and their requisite programs obscure the gospel rather than assist in its presentation.
There are other reasons why church buildings hinder the work of the gospel at least as much as they help – and I’m reluctant to suggest they help much at all. Church buildings create the wrong attitude. Church buildings call out: “Come, join us.” God commanded, “Go tell them.” So, from the start church buildings have us starting out in the wrong direction. They testify to our immobility, inflexibility, lack of fellowship, and pride.
It seems much wiser to go back to God’s Word and build the church around people instead of steeples. This is the desire of CityWide Fellowship.
ARTICLE UNDER CONSTRUCTION . . . PLEASE STAND BY! BEWAR OF TYPOS
