When I was a kid the building that we met for our church's gatherings was called "God's House." There were a lot of rules associated with God's House. There was no running in God's House. There was no acting up in God's House. There was no yelling, no rough housing, no horse play, no misbehaving in God's House. We had to dress up, I mean in suits and ties and nice dresses, to visit God's House. Every Saturday night we had to polish our shoes to make them shine. No scuffs were allowed in God's House. Our hair had to be perfect before we entered God's House.
In God's House we had to be very respectful because it was a reverent place. It was a serious place for the most part and a formal place, especially the SANCTUARY. Hats were to be removed the moment we walked in the door. After all God's House was were God lived, or so I thought. That's where we went to meet with Him. Although I never saw Him there, I was told He was there and watching my every move. It's no wonder many people view the church building as a stiff, irrelevant place.
Ironically, in Acts 7 while Stephen is giving his defense speech to the religious hierarchy, he quotes God from Isaiah 66. Stephen had been talking about Solomon building the Temple (you can read about that in 1 Kings 6 & 7). Yet Stephen notes that God doesn't live in houses built by man. He reminds the religious that Heaven is God's throne and that the earth is His footstool. God asked the question, "What kind of house will you build for me? Or where will be my resting place? Didn't I make all these things?"
It's interesting to note that the early church never did build any buildings. Yes the met in the temple courtyards, but they also met house to house. In fact, it was a number of years before church buildings became a thing. And since God doesn't live in building made by man anyway, where did we get the idea that where the church meets on Sundays is God's House? Paul even tells us that our bodies are the temple of God.
I'm not anti church buildings, but all the attention and money put into fancy ornate church buildings causes me to wonder if we're miscommunicating the nature of God and our relationship to Him. If God lives in church buildings and we have to be very reverent there, how does that impact my daily life? Does that mean God only shows up on Sundays or possibly Wednesdays at the church building? Does that mean if I don't go, God really isn't watching me or paying attention to me during the week? And does that mean I don't have to pay attention to God during my week?
There are so many questions that race through my mind regarding this issue. But what concerns me the most is a distancing of God the church has developed with a God's House mentality. It affects my faith. It affects my relationship. It affects my daily practices. It affects the non-Christian, the lost, the skeptical. Believe me, I understand the convenience of a church building. But if the early church could survive and expand across the globe for generations without permanent structures, would it hurt us to recapture their mentality about buildings, God, and our daily pursuit of Him.
God, I am so glad you don't live in a building made by man. I don't want or need a God who is restricted to a time and place. I need you, I want you in my daily life. I need for you to make a difference in my marriage, my parenting, my relationships, my goals, my direction, my job, my entire life. It's good to know that you are with me and in me as I rise to face the world each morning.
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