So often the Church of today gets equated with the physical house of worship. We use phrases like, “I’m going to church” signifying the place. We can put a lot of time and money into maintaining our buildings. Yet, God’s word puts emphasis on the spiritual house of worship — us, His people.
You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Pet. 2:5)
Because of the indwelling Holy Spirit, we are a Spiritual House not needing a Physical House of Worship.
Though always at work, the Holy Spirit didn’t permanently dwell within God’s people during Old Testament times but rather came upon them for specific works at specific times (Ex. 31:3; 35:30-36:1). That changed, however, shortly after the ascension of Jesus. His Spirit now lives within individual believers (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19) and we are “built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (Eph. 2:22). Consequently, it doesn’t matter where even just two or three gather in His name, He is there with them (Matt. 18:20). We can meet any place in the great outdoors or in whatever type of building and experience the power and glory of the Lord because His Spirit is already there, in us.
The woman at the well fixated on the place of worship but Jesus told her, “a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.” He went on to identify true worshipers as those who “worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.” (See John 4:20-24.)
Implications:
- Let’s put the emphasis where God does — on believers coming together in His name. The Church is the gathering of people indwelt by His Spirit, not the building.
Because we are a Spiritual House dwelling in physical bodies, we need a physical place to meet.
Look at the New Testament church. We read of them meeting in the temple courts (Acts 2:46), homes (Acts 16:5; Rom. 16:3-5; 1 Cor. 16:19; Col. 4:15; Philemon 2), and possibly other places. We read of localized churches in different cities or regions (e.g., the Church at Antioch – Acts 13:1; the 7 Churches in Revelation 2-3; etc.). Commonsense says they had to meet somewhere.
Perhaps the size of the group determined where they met; maybe weather conditions; or perhaps what was available. The Bible doesn’t say why they met where they did. Nor did God command them to meet at a certain place. What He did command was that they, and we, meet so we can encourage and build up one another. — “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Heb. 10:24-25)
Implications:
- Let’s prioritize our time and resources on what’s important to God — encouraging and ministering to the needs of people, not maintaining buildings that consume so much of what we have that we have little left for ministry.
To live out the two implications mentioned in this post, we need to not only be indwelt by the Holy Spirit but also walking in and filled with the Spirit — the next post.
All Posts about Facilities Management:
- CHURCH FACILITIES: Keep Footing
- CHURCH FACILITIES: Keep Focus
- CHURCH FACILITIES: Keep Flexible
- CHURCH FACILITIES: Keep Functional
- CHURCH FACILITIES: Keep Free from Consumerism
- CHURCH FACILITIES: Keep Free from Comparisons
- CHURCH FACILITIES: Keep Free from Coercion
- Building Equals Increased Possibilities?
- Building Equals Increased Testimony?
- Building Equals Making an Eternal Difference?
- Building Reflect the Glory of His Name?
- Management of Facilities Requires Grace
- Grace Affects Giving
- Grace Needed for Attitudes about Church Facilities
- The Building Isn’t Enough
- Spiritual versus Physical House of Worship
- Transforming Work of the Spirit, Not the Building
- A House of Prayer?
- When a Church is Truly a House of Prayer
- Building Projects Benefit from More than One Type of Leader
- Facilities Management & Building Maintenance a Ministry?
- Building Reflect the Newness of the Resurrection?
- Building Reflect the Keeping of God’s Word?
After reading this article, I feel for the audience because they have certainly been mislead. Outrightly condemning the building of a physical structure for divine worship is unchristian and Satanic. Satanic, because it is misleading. It is a show of ignorance in Christian Theology. I hate it when preachers teach that the Old Testament is not relevant because the New Testament gave advance knowledge of divine encounter. Jesus did not come to abolish the Law nor the Prophets, but to fulfill them (cf. Matthew 5:17). The Bible passages you wrongly interpreted give credence to the importance of building a physical house of worship for God.
I totally agree, Rev. Fr. Paschal Amakiri, that we still can learn from the Old Testament. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful (2 Tim. 3:16-17). And, yes, Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it (Matt. 5:17). This post, however, is not “outrightly condemning the building of a physical structure for divine worship”. One of the bold headings actually says “Because we are a Spiritual House dwelling in physical bodies, we need a physical place to meet”. The intent of this post, and all the posts in this category, is not to condemn a building but rather to help us keep perspective about it’s priority. The very Greek word used for the church, ekklesia, puts the emphasis on the “people” gathering. Jesus Himself said, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” (Jn. 4:23-24) The woman at the well was speaking with Jesus about “where” to worship and Jesus turned the emphasis on “how” to worship. Again, Jesus did not condemn a place of worship but rather pointed to what was most important.