Hope Crossing
Community Church
Sunday Worship:
Eastgate Cinema
5202 High Crossing Boulevard
Madison, WI 53704
Church Offices:
108 W. Main St. Suite G
Sun Prairie, WI 53590
Telephone:
608.834.1238by Kevin Buettner
I am sure her intentions were good, but after service a few weeks back when a woman said to me “I bet you all can’t wait to get your own church,” I got defensive. I think a few years ago, I would have agreed wholeheartedly, but after almost two years attending Hope Crossing, my mind has been renewed. Not only do I enjoy meeting in a movie theater, I think I prefer it.
What do you need to have church? Many would be quick to answer, “A building.” Interestingly, Jesus never directed his disciples to build sanctuaries. He never held a building campaign fundraiser. Jesus and his disciples after him, met in homes, in the marketplace, outside, wherever they could. A church building just didn’t make sense. They were the church. The Christian Church wasn’t an institution; it was a new way of life. It was the body of believers living in love for each other and for their neighbor. It still is.
Does a building fit into what the church should be? Our primary mission as stated by Christ is to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Take note of the three action words: go, baptize, and teach. All of them are active. We are also called to look after the orphan and the widow, which is an extension of the commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves. Some could argue that a building fits into these commands by offering a place to teach and a place to “minister from.” But, beyond this, does a modern American church building do much in the way of loving others? In some ways it has the opposite effect. Church buildings can be an unintentional monument to materialism and pride, focusing the congregation on giving enough money to afford the next upgrade or the new roof. It can serve as a black hole into which we throw God’s money with no return on the investment. But does this really hinder our ministry? I would argue, yes. A leading survey answer for why people don’t go to church is the image of money hungry pastors who only care about turning a profit and building an empire.
How can we reach people for Christ without our own facilities? If you have asked this, then you may have fallen into a common misconception in churches today—if we just have a beautiful building, and our music is good, and our preaching is dazzling, then the unchurched will come to us, into our church, where we can teach them about Jesus. Where is this ever modeled in scripture? Jesus WENT. His disciples WENT. He commands us to GO. And while the occasional curious unchurched person might wander in on a Sunday, I guarantee you that there are more unchurched people that will never do so.
How can we have activities during the week without our own facilities? First, we are doing it now. Second, not having a building to come to pushes us out to the community. Our small groups meet in homes, coffee shops and restaurants. This creates a more tight knit congregation, it gives opportunity for service, it makes our small groups more inviting for unchurched friends, and it further intersects our “church life” with our “non-church life” (a separation that we are called to abolish).
We live in beautiful houses, why shouldn’t God’s house be beautiful? I had a former pastor who used this argument like a slick used-car salesmen. The guilt he could build up in mere minutes was unreal. However, the answer to this one hit me one night at small group and really changed my mind. The revelation is this: your church building is NOT God’s house. Paul explains in 1 Cor. 6:19 that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Not only do we not need to build a house for God, we can’t build one. The concept is just nonsense. When Christ died, the curtain in the temple was torn in two, and the new covenant between God and man was formed. We, as children of the living God, can go directly to the throne of God with our prayers, petitions and praises. It is still true that what we have is still God’s. Your house, your car, our church office space, our sound equipment, it all belongs to God. As such, we have an obligation to take care of our things and to use them to glorify God. The difference is that God does not indwell our belongings. He does not live in church buildings, he lives in YOU.
Aren’t we missing out on building up financial equity in a building of our own? Our church is not a non-profit organization for the tax benefits. We exist to know Christ and make Him known. Our mindset is to be one of readiness, and our treasure is to be stored in heaven. We have no mortgage, we have no utility bills other than the small office space. We don’t need to worry about flood insurance or having the grass cut. The money that other churches pay in interest to a bank for their building, we can consider for missions, for feeding the hungry, for clothing the poor. A friend of mine who is an associate pastor for a church in Ohio was telling me about the multi-million dollar building project his church was taking on to include a youth center with a video arcade and rec center. He laughed because the elders of the church have been struggling with getting people out of their comfort zone to minister for Christ. Is this any wonder when they have spent all of their church offerings (and committed the next 10 years of offerings) to creating a larger, more plush comfort zone?
Don’t misunderstand me. Having a building is not wrong and I am not condemning any church that does so. Many churches with buildings have incredible ministries. Many churches with buildings reach the lost, feed the hungry, and are changing our world for the better. I am saying, though, please consider who Hope Crossing is and where God has placed us. Could it be that meeting at Eastgate is a blessing from God, something to be thankful for, and part of God’s plan to most effectively use our church for his mission? I think so.