In Thanks for the Meeting House
A Call to Reverent Corporate Worship in the American Church
“Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.”
– Hebrews 12:28-29
Recently, my wife and I were able to close on our first home. The feelings of belonging, ownership, and having a space to call our own stirred emotions in us which had evaded us for nearly a decade as we’d moved around and rented various houses and living spaces. These positive emotions are ones that have filled the hearts and minds of countless people throughout the history of mankind – and yet, is one you must experience to understand. Society grieves collectively when we hear of someone who has no home or when a teenager runs away from home. There is a thankfulness in knowing there is a place for your family to live, grow, be nurtured, create memories, and thrive together. In doing so, we recognize the difference in what we may otherwise merely call a house, and instead can distinctively call a home. A house is built with stone and wood, a home is built with love and the bond of family. A house is a place to live in and survive; a home is a place to grow and thrive.
I first felt led to write on the topic of the importance of the meeting house (church building) of God’s people when the COVID-19 pandemic began and nearly all churches in America ceased meeting and having the ability to gather in person for worship in the spring of 2020. This unprecedented time undoubtedly shaped our convictions further and refined areas of our understanding of the church in ways we’d perhaps never thought through before; and this is good and I believe some needed reform and repurposing of our stewardship will follow. We need to have a rightly formed biblical ecclesiology to understand the true nature of what the church is and what the church does. We must go to the Bible (and the Bible alone) to understand how the church functions and the basis of both our means and modes of worship. Furthermore, our church recently underwent a total transformation of our sanctuary and other gathering areas that had not been updated since the 1950’s. Needless to say, I have been thinking a lot on this topic as we were just able to come together again after being out of our normal place of gathering for over a year due to COVID-19 and the renovations.
Let me preface my following convictions by stating that I realize this is a broad topic that would require a lot of research and historical studies on topics like the Temple from the Old Testament as a meeting place for God’s people, synagogues which served as smaller meeting places for Jews preceding the New Testament era, and what’s commonly referred to as the “house churches” in the New Testament (which, by the way, were almost always owned by wealthy believers to provide the needed room and space for the poor Christians under persecution who likely had no other place to meet indoors).
I’m aware that in recent years there has been a needed correction aimed at the idea that the church must meet in a specific style or location to be counted faithful. I’m aware that from the third century to this day there have been eras and denominations which placed an over-emphasis on the physical places of meeting and the decorations that have filled those places to the point that many fell into a form of idolatry of sorts which found people to worship the way they worship. There is also a sense in which an unhealthy worldly attachment to buildings or pieces of furniture can cloud the true meaning of a church and has undoubtedly wreaked serious damage to many churches – often causing unnecessary division on tertiary matters that have nothing to do with the Bible or the salvation of sinners.
However, why is it that so many of the people I have the joy of shepherding constantly expressed a desire to return to our typical meeting place for corporate worship? Is it only because of a simple desire of return to normalcy – or is there something more? Why have churches historically been the primary places for the two most recognized and normally held life events which demand a place of meeting - weddings and funerals? My goal in writing is not an attempt to cover all of the aforementioned historical complexities or human questions, but to speak to the common Christian and perhaps answer a question few are articulating, but many are asking and feeling: “Why do I have a deep desire to meet with my church family in our normal place of worship as if we cannot do so elsewhere?”
The scriptures teach us that God is not dependent on human structures or architectural nuances to thrive among His people and work through them (Acts 17:24). We know that the Lord himself promised to build his church (Matt 16:18) and that this building project is not primarily physical but a spiritual building (1 Pet 2:4) that Christ is preparing His own for an eternal place to dwell with Him forever (John 14:3). To be sure, a church building is not the home for God’s people, but merely a house or temporary meeting place until we reach our forever home in heaven.
The Bible also shows us that the early church was in constant motion as missionaries were sent out, new churches were started, and that very cycle continues still today. The COVID-19 regulations placed need for the church to be quick on its feet and willing to adapt to changing circumstances. In this time, there has been no shortage of social media posts, books, and articles that have rightly asserted the reminder that the church is not a building but a people. There is a biblical case that Christians do not go to church, but are the church wherever they gather. In the New Testament, the very word “church” is always used to imply God’s called out people, assembly, or gathering. We understand the biblical concept of this world not being our home and that we are but passing through to our eternal home which Christ is preparing for His church. Safe to assume that most Christians understand that the church is not merely a building or location that is made by wood and materials as one would build a house for their family – rather, their family is their family regardless of where they live.
However, we must also understand that the description of the meetings of early N.T. is just that – a description. In the over fourteen times that the book of Acts, which chronicles the church’s inception and expansion, the word house is mentioned to reveal the historicity of where the Christians met (Acts 2:46, 5:42, 8:3, 10:22, 12:12, 16:32-34, 16:40, 18:7-8, 20:20). However, it is not less spiritual to have a place to gather and I’m confident that Christian’s around the world both now and then would be shocked at the idea that in a society such as ours with the economic advantages of such spaces is somehow sub-Christian or less like the early church merely because we gather resources together for a common place of meeting for worship. Following this logic, it is just as unspiritual to use modern transportation in place of walking or riding on animals in order to reach others. It seems many have become so enthralled with the persecuted church that they lay down every effort to enjoy the era in which we live in which we in large part do not understand this concept. I fear that if social trends continue and actual litigation and economic persecution comes to the America church, our children and grandchildren may look back at us with confusion as many shun the idea of enjoying the places of worship many of us frequent.
Due to the rise and impending fall of pragmatic worldly church growth strategies alongside an increasingly de-emphasis on the mind and casual attitude about life, I fear there is an unhealthy laizze-faire view of what the church is and what the church does. Though some may have a robust theology, it often is not expressed in their doxology and the two are inseparable. My growing concern is that those who take the position of viewing the places of worship as irrelevant and inconsequential may not have given thought to the early church or Christians in impoverished or persecuted areas who would give anything to have both the freedom and resources available to meet in a well-structured place for corporate worship. R.C. Sproul wisely states,
“In our day, we have seen a widespread movement to abandon the “churchiness” or churches. Instead of using architectural designs to draw attention to the transcendent majesty of God – the beauty of His holiness and glory – we have moved into the direction of pure functionality… In the Old Testament, the whole person was engaged in worship. The mind was engaged with the Word of God. The music of the choirs and the instruments mentioned in many of the psalms were part of the design of worship. There was an auditory beauty. There was a visual beauty. There was even an olfactory beauty with the sweet aroma of incense that was part of the experience of worship. All five senses, as well as the mind, were engaged in biblical worship.”[i]
For those who argue against having an affection for a beautified meeting place for a congregation that would be identified as a church building – do they believe that the early Christians would not have loved the chance to have that possibility? Do people truly believe that a church can grow, thrive, and be healthy and yet not have a place to meet and do whatever is necessary to remove unnecessary logistical challenges for space, weather, ministries, safety precautions, and effective means of worship that create ease for the attending person and does not burden a home or rely on civil government? Have we come to think of these natural and logical desires which have predated us by thousands of years as something to be shunned and seen as sub-spiritual? And could it be that the shallow, superficial, and oft-times outright satanic forms of worship we find in many churches is due to a lack of the necessary reverence and awe we must have towards God? If so, let us reconsider.
Perhaps, like all things in this life, the best way to view the church house (or meeting place) is to do so with a loose grip, understanding that it is temporary but also has been given to us by God to steward for His glory. And precisely because of this, should we not offer him our best? Should the meeting place of God’s people be dissolved into an ‘anything goes’ mentality as if we were partaking in something worth as much value as attending a ball game or picking up groceries?
God delights in beauty. We find this theme within natural creation and the Old Testament specifics for worship. I do not think, as some have begun to do, that God is more pleased with the lowest forms of the culture or casual attitudes about worship. To, once again, cover my statements, this is not a plea for poor stewardship and gaudy shows of wealth for churches. God often is far more pleased with the impoverished church in a hut living out their faith in Christ in love and unity than the affluent worldly church boasting in comfortable religiosity. My position is not to discount churches who may lack the funding for many of the resources other churches enjoy. What’s nice and fitting for one church may mean something entirely different to another church or culture. However, how you choose to worship God reflects what you think of God.
Should we not, just as we would with our homes, view our places of worship as something to be thankful for and steward them well and consider how to make the most of our time in them to glorify God? Should we not see that the gathering of God’s people, the preaching of the Word, partaking of the Lord’s Supper, praying, singing praise, and fellowshipping with God’s family as something that is special and therefore unlike every other aspect of our lives – worthy of our best? I believe so. And I, for one, am so grateful for the church house my family is blessed to attend and intend to help steward it as such for years to come.
[i] R.C. Sproul, “Whatever Happened to Beauty?” https://www.ligonier.org/blog/what-happened-beauty/