Falling Temples

Pentecost 25

Mark 13:1-8

Church buildings can be a real problem.  All too often, I have seen them get in the way of mission.  Now, I am not opposed to church buildings.  Over the years, I have been involved in a number of capital campaigns to restore, refurbish, repair and expand them.  I think having a concrete, visible place (with clear signage and a welcoming design) for a faith community to gather can provide a ministry with a certain level of recognition and identity in the larger community and provide a tool to be used for mission and ministry.  It certainly can make the ministry easier to find.  But, buildings can also become idols.  They can become more important to us than the ministry they were built to house.  The building can come to define the ministry more than the ministry itself.  Mortgages, leaky roofs, maintenance costs and other building expenses can cripple a congregation financially.  When maintaining the building becomes a higher priority than maintaining the ministry…  church buildings can be a real problem.

Then, Jesus asked, “Do you see these great buildings?  Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”  (v. 2)

No religious tradition has ever been more defined by a building than ancient Judaism and its Temple.  And yet, after it was razed to the ground by Titus in 70 AD, Judaism not only persisted, but flourished.  When our church building burned to the ground in Wayne, NE in 1994 AD, we discovered an identity as a faith community that went much deeper than the charred bricks and mortar.  Some of the fastest growing congregations I have visited in Tanzania gather for worship under the trees.

1 Peter 2:5 puts it this way, “…like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house…”  and again, in 2:6,  “For it stands in scripture: ‘See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’”  As a church, we need to get past the idea that the goal of being a church is to fill our buildings so we can maintain them, and build bigger ones.  The goal of being a church is to build disciples upon the cornerstone, which is Christ, and then to send them out into the world to live their daily lives in service and in witness to God’s love and compassion.  If the building gets in the way of doing that…  then, as hard as that may be, perhaps it is time to let it go.

Peace,

Bishop Mike