Construction Thoughts
I am pleased to report that construction on the interior of our new church building has begun. We are embarking upon a partial fit-out, meaning that we are working to complete our Fellowship Hall, church nursery and office and lavatories.
That will be enough to get us into our building. We don’t as of yet have all the money we need to do even that, but we have always found God to be faithful, regardless of whether we are faithful or faithless.
The Lord had lain upon my heart from the very inception of planning for a new church building that we would have our building (i.e. stone and mortar) when He had His building (i.e. His people).
I was always struck by the fact that there seem to be a zillion churches everywhere you look, at least in this country. I realize you can travel the entire length and breadth of Saudi Arabia, for instance, and never see one church.
We have all kinds of ecclesiastical edifices all around us, from Gothic-looking cathedrals to classic New England white-clapboard meeting-houses with white steeples. New churches often look more like office parks.
Yet how often does it also appear that God gets locked in those buildings throughout the greater portion of the week, like the Sunday school supplies or the Eucharistic elements bought at religious goods stores.
A pastor friend of mine once queried with a degree of incredulity, “What are we doing; sitting upon a property valued at several million dollars when we could be out and about sharing and disseminating the Word that brings life?
It was not for nothing that Jesus overthrew the money-changing tables while inhabiting the temple precincts. Ecclesiastical buildings in-and-of-themselves mean absolutely nothing.
Look at the great cathedrals and charming antiquarian churches of Europe. Few people actually attend them. It is no secret that Europe has become, in large measure, a pagan environment, its Christian heritage notwithstanding.
My brother recalls attending an Anglican church in London in the early ‘80s as the pastor thundered against modern man’s arrogance to a small group of elderly ladies. I am sure they agreed with him, but …
Chinese evangelist Brother Yun, otherwise known as the “Heavenly Man” and one who knows something about the nature of the Church (having had to represent her before the Communist authorities of China!), says this in Living Water:
“When I’m in the West, I see all the mighty church buildings and all the expensive equipment, plush carpets and state-of-the-art sound systems. I can assure the Western church with absolute certainty that you don’t need any more church buildings. Church buildings will never bring the revival you seek.”
Buildings have a way of consuming a church’s resources and attention. There is always the risk of idolatry with church buildings and their accoutrements. Perhaps it simply comes with the territory in a fallen world.
I remember one woman who attended an ecumenical service in town at a church that was worshiping in what had once been a school gymnasium. “I could never worship here again,” she declared, “because there are no stained-glass windows.”
I think it is safe to say that she probably never worshiped at all, at least not the Lord Almighty. Paul certainly put it as plainly as possible to the Athenian philosophers: “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands” (Acts 17:24).
That was the text my dear wife used when she shared God’s Word with our congregation on Mother’s Day, 2005, just two days before the fire that ravaged our old building. How little did we know that we were listening to the last sermon ever preached in the old sanctuary that was constructed in 1902?
Thank God that He has abided with us throughout the five-plus years we have been without a church building, though we certainly have been blessed with a church home in the form of a state-of-the-art community center just two blocks away!
He has taught us much, including the noteworthy reality that we are the Church, not the building, however beautiful, however ecclesiastical, however seemingly sacred the space. His people meet in a building, but His people are the Church.
Jesus said to Peter, “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). He wasn’t talking about a building that features a narthex or a sacristy or pews. He was talking about His people.
Lesslie Newbigin offers some splendid insight into the nature of the Church in his splendid little volume, The Household of God:
“The whole core of biblical history is the story of the calling of a visible community to be God’s own people, His royal priesthood on earth, the bearer of His light to the nations … It is surely a fact of inexhaustible significance that what our Lord left behind Him was not a book, nor a creed, nor a system of thought, nor a rule of life, but a visible community … This actual visible community, a company of men and women, with ascertainable names and addresses, is the Church of God.”
Let it be emphasized, too, that the Church is not simply a people, but the people of God, the body of believers in Jesus Christ. The name of Christ and the concept of the Church have sometimes been co-opted for other purpose, but there is no mistaking the Church for what she is or, better stated for who she is.
Clarity is so important. Let us be clear: The Church is the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, the temple of Christ, the witness for Christ – nothing more, nothing less!
Newbigin follows: “Here we are dealing with the Church or congregation of God. It derives its character not from its membership but from its Head, not from those who join it but from Him who calls it into being. It is God’s gathering.”
Jesus is the air the Church breathes. He is her raison d’etre, or reason for existence. He is our Bridegroom, or First-love. He is the context in which we live, the substance of our faith, the very life we now live.
It has nothing to do with organization or methodology or style, let alone doctrinal distinctives or specific experiences. It has everything to do with Jesus, which is why He can be found, worshiped and followed no matter what the circumstances or makeup of a band of His followers.
We turn to the quotable Newbigin yet again: “Congregation of God is equally the proper title for a small group meeting in a house, and for the whole world-wide family. This is because the real character of it is determined by the fact that God is gathering it. This may remind us of Christ’s word, ‘Where two or three are gathered together in my Name, there am I in the midst of them’ (Matthew 18:20).”
Small fellowships such as the one I pastor take great heart when encountering these precious words of Jesus, especially in the day and age of the mega church. We take Him at His word when He stresses the numbers two and three, all-too-happy to be accused of being hyper-literalists where His Presence is concerned!
My twin brother’s pastor served as the pastor of a church of roughly 120 persons for many years. He reflected with acute honesty upon his early days as a pastor, believing that his job was to build up his congregation into a mega-church.
It never happened, but fifteen years later he came to understand that he had been shepherding a congregation filled with mega-Christians! He now pastors a church of several thousand, but learned early that quality was always better than quantity.
Lord Byron poetically remarked of merry old England that “Her quantity is but reduced to quality.” I share the sentiment regarding the congregation of which I have been an integral part for almost 22 years.
And for the last five years since the fire that gutted our church building I have come to learn a great deal about that same congregation and the God to whom we look in adoration and service. He has made it all worthwhile.
I have found beyond all doubt that He is faithful in all things. He was to the Israelites. He has been to the Church of Jesus Christ. He will be to the world, for is He not reconciling all things to Himself?
I am delighted to report that our congregation never degenerated into a habit of grumbling or complaining. It was the bane of God’s Spirit when the Israelites were wandering through the desert, as it was a significant blight upon their character.
And I am pleased to observe a corollary in that there has been no idolatrous conception of our new building, even as any idolatry concerning the old building and its corresponding traditions was consumed by the fire of five years ago.
Hearts and minds were kept on Jesus and His Kingdom, His adoration and His ministry. It was not for nothing that the Spirit of God conveyed to my wife at the time that we were to “Embrace the fire!” Fire destroys, but it also purges.
We have been purged of a lot of unhealthy habits and directed to develop and foster new and more spiritually healthy ones: Things like worship and prayer, study and meditation upon God’s Word, a greater sense of witness regarding His Name, etc.
It is a beautiful thing when Christians dwell together in unity (Psalm 133:1), especially amidst crisis, even more when pursuant of our Father’s high calling. It is the calling that is the point, not the brick and mortar. Paul rhapsodized as such:
“You are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit” (Ephesians 2:19-22).
What an exquisitely beautiful use of architectural motif! Paul was writing to a group of believers at Ephesus who would have been quite familiar with the great ancient temple to the goddess Diana.
We can draw upon the ecclesiastical magnificence of European cathedrals. Think of Notre Dame in Paris or St. Paul’s in London and you have, comparatively-speaking, examples made tawdry by the existence of the Church of Jesus Christ.
I take my lovely little grand-daughter into the church to let her watch what the men are doing. It gives us something to do and, amidst the hot torrid temperatures amidst which the men are doing their work, Amber is a breath of fresh air.
She asks me, “What are they doing?” I reply, “They’re building the church.” She asks, “With blocks (meaning mega-blocks)?” “Yes, sweetheart, it’s like blocks!”
I suppose it is. Blocks are the material with which the little lady and I build castles on the back-porch table. Studding and dry wall and other such things are the materials with which the men build our church.
And, as with everything you can see, taste, touch, smell or hear (and much, much more, according to the scientists!), the Lord God made them all. This especially includes the Church, which is the crowning apex of His magnificent achievement.
The Church is being made and will one day be completed, one person (Think block, my dear little Amber!) at a time. The Apostle Peter reminds us that we are, each of us, living stones, living in complement to the Living Stone:
“”As you come to Him, the living Stone – rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to Him – you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (I Peter 2:4, 5).”
What are those spiritual sacrifices that God accepts? A sacrifice of praise is first in order of significance. One biblical writer put it best:
“Through Jesus, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that confess His name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased” (Hebrews 13:15, 16).
Christians presenting their bodies in living sacrifice is another of high import. The Apostle Paul certainly practiced what he preached when he wrote:
“I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:1, 2).
Pouring our lives out on the altar of faith is yet another expression of acceptable sacrifice. Again, Paul’s life as an embodiment of faith, to which he testifies at the end of his faithful and fruitful life:
“I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:6-8).
One can see the comprehensive and qualitative difference in the life of those who constitute the Church: It is a life both transformed and applied in a way that brings integration of heart, mind, body and purpose. It is a work of God, not of man.
These, therefore, are the things that will endure into eternity. These are the things that will survive the fires of judgment and find their way into the new heavens and new earth promised by Scripture. It surely won’t be Buckingham Palace or the Hermitage or the U.S. Capitol, or even the new church building of First Baptist.
It won’t be the canon of Shakespeare or the symphonies of Beethoven, however much these works prove to be a kind of apex to the creative capacity of civilized souls, though I deeply grieve for their transient character, as I love them.
It won’t be any of the ecclesiastical organizations of Christendom: Catholicism, Orthodoxy, the various strands of Protestantism, modern Pentecostalism and the non-denominational mega-churches of our own day – None will survive.
It won’t even be the great theological gleanings of western civilization. Augustine, the greatest theologian after Paul, was given a glimpse of God’s glory while on his deathbed and declared, “I have seen God’s glory; all I have done is straw!”
The Church alone will endure, courtesy of God’s grace and good keeping through Jesus Christ. The Presence of Jesus is the decisive difference. Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes in Life Together of the meaning behind Christian fellowship:
“What does this mean? It means, first, that a Christian needs others because of Jesus Christ. It means, second, that a Christian comes to others only through Jesus Christ. It means, third, that in Jesus Christ we have been chosen from eternity, accepted in time, and united for eternity.”
Jesus was starkly unimpressed by the grandeur of Jerusalem’s skyline (Matthew 24:1, 2). He made utilitarian use of nature in His teaching (though the impression is given that He had an affectionate appreciation for animals, at least birds and sheep).
But He loved the Church. He loved her with His very life. He prayed to God that the divine love might suffuse her with His own Presence (John 17:26). He loved us enough to sacrifice His own life for us as a fragrant sacrifice to God (Ephesians 5:2).
We are His Bride. He loves us and has taken us to Himself. We bear His Name. We will be where He is. We will share in His Kingdom. We will share in His glory. We will be like Him because we will see Him as He is.
And we will have no need other than the need to know His love and the inherent proclivity to render Him glory. There is the compelling difference.
Our church building has and will have many needs. Our need today, to put it bluntly and baldly, is for more money. We simply don’t have enough, though we know that our God has cattle on a thousand hills. Do pray for us on this count.
We need more workers, and I don’t simply mean construction workers or contractors, though as many of those we can hire or utilize will be God’s gift. The work of which we speak for which we need workers is different.
Jesus observed that the harvest is plentiful and counseled us to pray for workers to till the harvest field. Every local church pastor knows and feels this need at the deepest level. We don’t need more church members, but we do need more servants.
General MacArthur called upon the Church to provide 20,000 missionaries to Japan in order to evangelize and “Christianize” the Japanese. I think he got something like 200 in all. No matter, for Jesus only had twelve and He changed the world.
Yet so many churches and ministries are, like us, seeking to secure a physical base for their harvesting work. I know of one in Spain and of another in the Philippines. Others are seeking to stay afloat amidst the economy or simply seeking office space.
I reiterate what I have learned: We will have our building when God has His building. We are His building, made not of brick and mortar and at the cost of American currency, but of God’s Spirit and at the cost of Christ’s blood.
We don’t always look pretty, often appearing rather ineffectual. The devilish Screwtape in C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters counsels his fiendish protégé to feed his spiritually-seeking victim on the glorious doctrine of the Church and then watch the devastating effects when he meets the local man, sans glory, even sans glitter.
But the now-decimated World Trade Towers offer helpful perspective. They were not well-received by the architectural critics, but those living in lower Manhattan often used the twin towers as a sight-line as they weaved their way through the labyrinth of streets to their respective destinations. They grew to love them.
So … Stand tall, Christian Church. The gates of hell shall not prevail against you! We are His glorious Bride. And we are a precious witness to the ultimate destination, which is not even heaven so much as it is the glory of God. Hallelujah!
Bradley E. Lacey
August 14, 2010
The World’s Greatest Message with Pastor Brad Lacey is heard on Philadelphia’s WHAT 1340am every Sunday at 9am. Please pray for our listeners and for the finances needed to maintain this faith-based ministry. Your support is invaluable.