Not Another Building Program!

The American landscape is filled with church buildings. Everywhere you go you find church buildings of all kinds. Little country churches to large cathedrals and temples. It seems that every church is involved, has been involved, or is about to be involved, in a church building program. There are congregations whose growth genuinely necessitates some kind of expansion project. And there are other congregations whose facility has gotten so old that a new structure is genuinely necessary. But I don't think those congregations are the majority. In fact, I am convinced that they are the rare minority.

Building programs are the pet of church leadership. Sometimes the reason given for many programs is based upon growth by faith. The belief is that building a structure is an act of faith for growth to come. It is the Field of Dreams motto, "If you build it, they will come," hope. The error of this thinking is in presumption. If the promise of God is not in the Bible, and the Lord has not spoken about the matter, such faith is regarded as presumption by the Lord, and He does not have to answer such a prayer. Let's look at what the Bible has to say about building programs.

The first example of a building program is when King David wanted to build the Temple in Jerusalem. It is noteworthy how the Lord spoke to David through the Prophet Nathan.

5 Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? 6 Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. 7 In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar? 8 Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel: (2 Sam 7:5-8 KJV)

The Lord's response to David is that He did not ask for a temple (v. 7a) but rather He commanded David to feed His people (v 7b & 8b). God is not interested in building programs. He wants His children to be spiritually & physically fed. Nonetheless in the spirit of Romans 8:28 (all things work for good for those who love the Lord) He permitted David's son Solomon to build the Temple (2 Sam. 7:12), which upon further reading (vs. 13 & 14) it is clear that God is speaking of His Son Jesus Christ who will build the Temple that God will dwell in, that is, our bodies. It is true that the Bible does say that the temple was built according to pattern of the Lord (1 Chron. 28:11-12), all these things in the Old Testament were shadows and types until the coming of Christ.

When the children of Israel were to leave Egypt, consider the promise of God to them.

13 And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat. (Josh 24:13 KJV)

It was typical of the promise of God for the Israelites to enter Canaan to take cities (thus homes) which they built not. With the abundance of church buildings already in our nation, why do we need to build more? To say that our church is for our community is only partially true. Most churches are filled with members who travel some distance to come to that church, if it is a living church.

The subconscious truth about many building programs is that it feeds the ego of the church leadership. A large building implies a large congregation, which, in the natural, shows the "success" of the ministry. Pagan history is filled with an abundance of temples made to pagan gods which had nothing to do with worship of their deity and more to do with their builder's desire to be remembered as part of their legacy.

Europe is filled with gargantuan cathedrals which were built during the Gothic period (1100- 1400 AD). These structures were not built by the Catholic church per se, but rather by the pagan Knights Templar who worshiped the Hebrew Cabbalah and Gematria in designing their structures. The first of these cathedrals was Chartres Cathedral in France, commissioned by Pope Innocent II and overseen by Templar supporter St. Bernard. This structure is filled with ornate sculptures of pagan deities from Assyria and Egypt. The gargoyles are direct illustrations of demonic worship. The Templars represent the height of paganism in the Catholic Church.

The cult of Mormonism abounds in "gothic" temples. These structures house massive archives of genealogical records which they "pray" for. How different is the Mormon baptizing of the dead different from the oriental ancestor worship? Mormons fill their sanctuary with superstitious rituals and cleansings that demonstrate their pagan system.

Self exaltation and paganism is the spirit behind large building programs. Large churches make for poor accountability. Large churches are filled with people who want to fulfill their religious duty by going to church, yet do not want to truly grow in the Lord. It is real easy to be lost in the crowd. Church leadership knows this therefore believe that "cell groups" are the answer to that lack of accountability. However, those people will not go to those groups since they do not want to grow anyway. When one looks at such Christian structures as Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral, it is in the same vein, if not the same spirit, as the pagan structures. To whom does the glory go to? God? Not at all. The glory of God is revealed in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). Large buildings are for the glory of the church leaders.

I visited a large church in Dallas once when only the staff was there. When I asked the deacon if the church is filled up, he honestly answered, "No." How much, then does it fill up? He answered, "About a quarter." This structure is an example of such presumptuous faith.

22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him. (Deut 18:22 KJV)

Way too many building programs are begun on this type of presumption. And, ironically, according to an article in ChurchBusiness.com by banker Russ Piddy, many pastors who begin such building programs often leave the congregation afterwards.

George Barna, the Christian pollster has a new book entitled, "Revolution," in which he traces where sold out Christians are going. He states that there are millions of believers in America who are sold out for Christ that have forsaken the organized churches. He states that the main influences on the American culture begin first with movies, television, books, the Internet, law and family. The second tier of influence on our society are schools, peers, newspapers, radio and businesses. The local church has zero influence on our society today. I would suggest that building programs are one of the reasons that serious believers are leaving the church, and why the local church has no influence on our society.

To all the pastors who subconsciously want to exalt themselves in building programs, I say to you: "Repent." Remember what Jesus said to Peter, "Feed my sheep" (John 21:17). And like Peter's anxiety over the fate of John, Jesus would say about building programs, "What is that to thee, follow thou me" (John 21:22). Repair buildings as legitimately needed, and expand as legitimately needed. But remember, if the need is real and you are seeking first the kingdom of God, then all those things shall be added unto you (Matt. 6:33), and there will be no need to badger the congregation for funding.