I am furious today. I can't really write the reasons since the people who caused such a thing may in fact read this. Don't worry it wasn't one of you my friends. I have such a love hate relationship with church, that is the building that represents it, I thought rather than write a new tirade, I offer a glimpse at a section of the book I am currently writing.

Best Box in Town

“I don’t know much about God, but they’ve built a nice cage for him.” ~Homer Simpson

I remember as a boy being around the age of 10 working with my church’s drama ministry. We had a passion play that had become the Easter tradition of many. Not content to put on a full length play with just regular lights the technical team worked very hard to make stage lights. A 2 pound coffee can, an outlet and a lot of wire to a dimmer. It wasn’t Broadway, but everyone could see. As the lights were hung, and slowly and laboriously aimed with coat hangers I was excited to be a part of something so cutting edge. I had never seen stage lights in a church before and I was so happy to see that doing something well was important to my church. The show went wonderfully on Friday and Saturday night the Gospel was presented clearly and many people in the audience came and asked to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. I remember leaving Saturday night to go to a diner to eat, as the man who played Jesus climbed on a ladder and stuck the lights back in the drop ceiling.

I stopped and protested,
“We have a Sunday night show, all of the lights will be off their marks, we’ll have to completely re-aim them!”
The actor looked at me, exhaustion in his eyes, and said,
“Some people say a church shouldn’t look like a theater.”

Do you know what the big problem is when any place is filled with people? It looks like it’s been used by a bunch of people. Walls get scuffs, carpets get stains, chairs break, tiles need replaced, and everything needs to be vacuumed.
When it comes to church, I think signs of use are good things. Places of worship, are supposed to build people, not walls.

So often there is a disconnect between what a church says and a church does. And we know that actions speak louder than words. I have been at churches with lots of money, and I have been at churches with no money. I have seen volunteer cleaners and I have seen paid janitors. And of course I have talked to leaders who swear by their building and leaders who would meet in a tent if it brought people to know Jesus Christ.

As a young minister, it is difficult to imagine church much different than the church I grew up in, a long sanctuary and a small foyer, a downstairs with tile floors and a kitchen, a long hallway with some class rooms and a youth room in the back. I found myself planning my ministry ideas around a building that wasn’t mine. My thinking was so tied to a space that ideas that took place outside of that space were immediately discarded.
And if I as a young man with a ridiculous imagination can’t get passed the confines of the church walls, how can the leaders who have served there for years?

We are instructed to be good stewards of the resources God gives us, and there is a difference between being good stewards of His gifts, and caretakers of His museum.
Buildings, like art, demand a response. They have expectations, and set standards silently; empty space is never truly empty. Our sacred spaces do well to separate us from the world with the intent of focusing us on God, but just how separate are we supposed to be? No matter how good the music, how nice the curtains, how pretty the people dress on Sunday, Monday is coming and there are no curtains or music or dress code to keep you from dealing with life’s very real problems. Why then do we spend so much on our building? It is provable that churches that do an ascetic remodeling grow briefly, it should be noted that the bulk of this growth is church hoppers looking for the newest and best and if filling the pews is all you care about, and reaching the hurting is happy perk; then move ahead with the building plans.
They say give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he’ll eat all his life. Lesser known is the build a fishing pole and it’s useless without a person.
God will build His church, His people. Not his stone faced building. Not a steeple. Not a newly paved parking lot with additional handicapped spaces. His people.

If we spend more money on remodeling our building than we do on evangelism, mentoring, and discipling then our church is going to be condemned in the places that really matter.

Come Awake

"Long is the way, and hard, that out of hell leads up to light."~John Milton

Sometimes in life when you look back you realize that you have been in overhaul mode. Not for any real reason; I never said "Today is the day I shall change everything!". Yet somehow here I am on a path away from where I have resided so long. It is strange these places have no name, but I, like Milton, sometimes ascribe appropriate names based on the feeling a place evokes.

I don't know that there is much outside of myself that anyone would understand, but I have come to the conclusion that when in doubt try something different. I, as a Christian, have spent too long trying to "be still and know" God as opposed to getting out and living like God knows me. That is not to say my actions mean anything, but the movement is faith. Faith that God is changing me, faith that I can trust Him direct me, faith that old and tired muscles can still make a difference.

For those who have hit a spot where knowing is not enough, then my challenge is simple: Move.

God is so much bigger than our sad state of affairs, and even our best fortunes. Movement is required in the walk of faith, or as the old saying goes we are just sliding backwards.