Church building projects

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Church building projects

Post by _Anonymous » Sun Mar 28, 2004 11:32 pm

Steve or others. My wife and I have bounced around from church to church looking for the "right" one. We are pretty sure the right one may not be out there so we seem resigned in the fact that going is better than not. One thing we have noticed on our church travels is that many seem to be in the middle of or planning for a major building project. In several cases the projects cost up to 1 million dollars. One church in particular seemed to not just add on but did so lavishly as to attract people by appearence. They went as far as to put in theater seating. My heart aches when I see the church spending this money on buildings when it could be doing so much more with the money. Are my wife and I just weird or are we right in feeling almost ashamed. Where do you draw the line?? Must the church add on to accomodate more people?? thanks in advance.
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_Steve
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Post by _Steve » Fri Apr 02, 2004 12:00 pm

The money that the church spends is God's money, given to God by God's people for God's projects. Those who steward God's things must answer to God someday for the way in which they disbursed His funds (Luke 16:1/ Matt.25:19). We know of two priorities in the heart of God to which we may safely direct His resources placed in our hands. The first is in assisting the poor (Matt.6:2/19:21/Luke 12:33). The second is in providing the support for those who minister the Word of God (Gal.6:6/ 1 Cor.9:11, 14/ 1 Tim.5:17).

In the Old Testament, there were two elaborate building projects to which the people were encouraged to contribute, the tabernacle and the temple. These, however, do not provide a direct parallel to any modern building projects, since God does not live in temples built by human hands (Acts 7:48/ Isa.66:1-2), and the true temple today is made up of "living stones"—being the sum total of Christians on earth, the church and body of Christ (1 Peter 2:5). The needs of this "temple" are the human needs of the individuals who comprise it. Thus, "building the temple" today is "building up (edifying) the body of Christ." Rather than building ornate steeple-houses, God's resources ought to be used, primarily, for the building up of the people of God.

Since the early Christians did not have church buildings, we have no direct precedent in the New Testament to direct our thinking about how much to spend on such buildings, if they are found to be necessary for the conduct of the ministry of the assembly. I do not feel qualified to tell another man what he should do with his own stewardship. I can imagine that there would be occasions for a gathering of saints to decide that they could make good use of a building for their assemblies, and that the acquiring of one might be a good stewardship decision. If a suitable meeting place cannot be obtained as economically in any other way, it may be proper for them to build one.

If I were obliged to make the decisions about such a project, I would aim at getting the highest degree of utility for the dollar, and give little attention to ornamentation. I am not opposed to steeple-houses being attractive, comfortable and well-lit, if such luxuries can be had at a low cost, without cutting into the genuine needs of the poor of the church and its ministers. Their needs ought to come first.

As for deciding which church to "join," I would definitely make their use of finances one of the primary criteria for making any such decision. Use of money is a gauge and indicator of one's spiritual commitments. Where the treasure is will reveal where the heart is (Matt.6:21). Churches with ambitious building projects seldom have the same spiritual priorities as did the early Christians, and I would, in most cases, not wish to entrust the nurture of my soul, or of my family, to an organization that misunderstands such a basic spiritual principle.
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In Jesus,
Steve

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Church Life

Post by _Anonymous » Tue Jul 20, 2004 3:52 pm

The biggest problem we are dealing with is we got church wrong. We acknowledge the church is the people, but live as though the building is the people. There is an old saying: "if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, its a duck." If we ask people where they go to church, and money is collected for the building and both are related to a building... the building is the church. In the New Testament the saints collected money for the saints (church), today we collect money for the church (building). In the New Testament Saul went from house to house to persecute the Church, today we would have to go from church to church to persecute the house.
To say having it backwards is tolerable is a sign how far we are from God.
I just can't read the letters to the 7 churches in Revelation and think the church in America is on solid ground.... at least they were one in each city.
I left going to church to be the church. I believe we need to make a stand and statement on what we believe and what is true.
Check out my website... www.housechurch.us especially "How important is the church."
God Bless.... Steve your email doesn't work.
Andy
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_Steve
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Post by _Steve » Tue Jul 20, 2004 5:30 pm

Hi Andy,
I checked your website and it looks pretty good. My email is: s_gregg7225@yahoo.com. It should work. I get mail there regularly. I would enjoy getting to know you.
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In Jesus,
Steve

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