Monday, 2nd February, 2009
Church = People
Until the 3rd century and the reign of the emperor Constantine the church didn't own buildings. Before that time the church would meet in people's houses. During times of persecution under the emperors Nero (64 A.D.), Decius (250 A.D.) and Diocletian (303 A.D.) the church would meet where it could - often in hiding.
And Constantine? He was, ostensibly, the first Christian Roman emperor. In 312 A.D., whilst on the battlefield at Milvius, Constantine had a vision. He saw a sign. The sign was the Greek letters Chi (X) and Rho (P), The first two letters of 'Christ'. He apparently also heard a voice saying, in Greek, "You will conquer by this sign".
From being a persecuted minority the Christians became the favourites of the emperor. He gave money and land to the church and the church started building. As time went on these new churches became bigger and more spectacular. The cathedrals in many cities are a silent witness to the church's love of buildings. Which is not to despise them, just to point out they are not the be all and end all of the church's life or mission.
So what's this got to do with our building project?
The fact is the church doesn't need buildings. They are a convenience. They are handy and nice things to have. But a building is not the church. The church always has been, and always will be, the people who meet together to worship and to hear the Word of God.
Libramont Evangelical Church doesn't need a building, strictly speaking. It's going to be very useful to us. We hope and pray that we will be able to use it to better serve God and the community around us. But if we're not already doing those things a building won't change very much. A building will not change the fundamental nature of our church - it'll just change our surroundings.
Any church that takes on a building project faces any number of potential hurdles. It is easy to see how this project could consume the church's time, energy and resources. The project could come to dominate the life of the church if we are not careful to keep our priorities straight.
Our priorities are, first God and then each other. Our love for God should be of the highest importance. But it's easy to forget the other when it comes to deciding what colour the walls should be or where the tables are going to go. Jesus had something to say about this:
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35, ESV)
As mentioned in one of my previous posts the eyes of the world, or at least Libramont, are upon us. They'll see the building going up. I'm sure they'll also see how we treat each other and it will make a difference to how we are perceived in the community and how willing people will be to come and have a look and see what we're about. We don't particularly fear others' opinions of us, but if ultimately they reject Christ let it be because of who He is and what He means, not because we can't sort ourselves out over the details of the building project.
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