WHAT DOES YOUR BUILDING SAY?

I was having a conversation with a brother the other day about this, that and the other and whilst it was happening an idea began to form in my mind. When I later thought through things, I realised that outside every building that the church meets in there are two signs. One that you can see and one that you can’t see…sort of.

Most buildings have a sign that says this is the so and so church and a few details about who runs it (usually called “the pastor” or “priest”). Some have an additional sign which is so religious such as ”Jesus loves you and we do too”.

The sign that you can’t see is the building itself. It usually gives a message that you’re welcome or not as the case may be. Let me explain.

If you go into most religious buildings it will reflect the people that attend. Cathedrals tend to attract the establishment crowd and moneyed people. It conveys that the working class are not welcome. Of course it will be denied, but look at the crowd, if there is one, and see if any working class do attend.

Modern, slick, prim and proper, shiny new buildings with all its mod cons and facilities welcome the middle class set as it reflects the homes they live in and the sort of people they are. Again the unseen sign is working class not welcome here. Of course it will be denied, but you only have to observe the expectations of the group to be or become middle class to realise that it is the truth. After all a successful middle class person couldn’t be expected to entertain a working class family in their home if it was going to lower the tone of the place and in the building they might spill coffee on the pristine carpet.

Buildings that may be run down, or old and very ordinary tend to attract people that are not into worldly goods and image. Theirs is a day to day struggle to make ends meet, so the important thing to them is to find a place where people are important, not buildings. This type of building can say “middle class not welcome here” or “everyone welcome here, take us you find us.”

This latter example has to be careful that it does not look down on middle class people that are genuinely caring and want to make a difference and give an impression that they are proud of not being middle class. When the two mingle successfully it is potent mixture that can produce dramatic results.

Why did the New Testament Church meets in home where everyone was accepted? One of the reasons was to break down class barriers which were rampant in those days. In the homes, everyone was accepted regardless of their station in life, and no one was treated with more deference than others. There were no professional clergy to laud it over the “lower class” as the scripture says that they were “all one in Christ Jesus”.

Was this classless faith due to the fact that they met in homes? I don’t think that it was the only reason, but I am sure it was a big factor because homes generally speaking should be welcoming and warm. Just the place a person who is new to the faith might find acceptance and love whether he is a saint or a sinner, a Senator or a slave, rich or poor.