I find myself wondering how you will have reacted to this question. Actually, it is a modified version of the title I had intended to use: “God is Not Interested in Your Church”. Obviously, it is intended to provoke a response, and many will feel that it is an unnecessary question, because you are convinced already that he is. But is he?
I awoke from a good night's sleep recently with the words of the intended title ringing in my mind. I have no idea why, unless it was that God wanted to get me thinking and writing on the topic. For many Christians in the rural areas, while we might say that the church is really the people and not the building, it is the building that becomes dominant and all consuming. Beloved ancient piles of stones, some with towers, some with steeples, some with both, and some with neither, stand as a witness to our faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. They were lovingly erected at considerable cost by a generous benefactor or congregation. As such, they are treasured. But is God interested?
Christians know that everything material is temporal, and we cannot take it with us when the time comes. However, we develop attachment to buildings, chairs (even pews), and various traditions. We build a world around ourselves of all this, almost as if we need it to feel at home. Of course, you know that home is not here but hereafter. So, while our very human attachment to these things also makes them precious to us, is God interested in our whims?
Even Christian organisations, such as Rural Mission Solutions, cannot have any long-term guarantee of holding God’s interest. So, what is God interested in? The simple answer is “people”. Now, I am not arguing that God is not interested in his created world; I am convinced that he is. The point I wish to make is that I am equally convinced he would not be interested in the ‘Parish Church of St Barry and All Angels’, as far as the building is concerned, though I am sure it would be splendid.
The Bible reveals that God is passionate about people - even those who couldn't care less about him. Those that do not know him, he longs that they would come to know him. Those of us who do know him, he longs that we would share in his plan and purposes for us all. God is not on his own when it comes to an interest in people. I am an avid people watcher. From early life to old age, people fascinate me. Their looks and mannerisms are almost mesmerising. I just love people. I watch them on television, often through tears generated by various emotions. But God loves them so much more.
Call me a church building luddite if you wish, but I really do believe that God is not only disinterested in our church buildings, but that there are times when he might rejoice if they fell down! All that time and money that goes into maintenance, heating and lighting, insuring and polishing the things WE call holy, really ought to be spent on the things that God calls or would like to call holy. Most of the buildings were designed to meet the needs that existed in days gone by. If they do not meet the needs of the real church today, then they are not needed.
Did we learn anything about church during the pandemic? Interestingly, many churches said that members of their congregations drew closer using Zoom meetings when they were unable to meet face to face. Many also said that new people attended, some have started meeting face to face and some have become committed members. Most churches maintained income while saving running costs!
Of course, meeting face to face and being able to sing again is an advantage, but we learned (I hope) that we are not utterly dependent on our historic buildings.
By law each member of the Parochial Church Council in the Church of England has responsibility, with others including the Church Wardens, for the maintenance of all their church premises. Often this includes a costly historic building. PCC members find themselves cast in the role of curators. Significant amounts of money and time are spent in this way. But the PCC is also responsible, together with the incumbent, for the mission of the church which, in the guidance for Church Office Holders, is set before matters of buildings. But what happens if the care of the property hinders the mission of the church?
Free churches do not normally carry such a legal burden but might have a chapel that is a ‘Listed Building’ which is restrictive. In Baptist, Congregational, and some other denominations the maintenance of the inherited premises is the responsibility of the local congregation, much like the Church of England but not as onerous.
We live in a world where many millions of men, women, and children have yet to understand the wonder of the gospel message, and where people suffer illness unnecessarily, and where people live in poverty and go hungry. Is God interested in them?
If we had not inherited mediaeval or other old buildings, largely inappropriate for our use today, we would find other ways of meeting economically and share our financial resources with those in need. Yes, our church buildings matter to us, but is God interested in them as much as he is in the poor, the sick, the homeless and the hungry?
Right now, in the face of the appalling invasion of Ukraine and the dispossession of tens of thousands, European churches are stepping up to show God’s love. Because the churches are ‘out there where the need is’, the world is taking notice. Now that’s the kind of church in which God is interested. But is God interested in your church?
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