The conventional wisdom in 21st century Christianity is that church buildings should be modest. There is no restraint on building large buildings if the size of the congregation justifies the size, but there is restraint on excessive decoration and cost. There is pressure against using expensive building materials and techniques. Many congregations try to build their buildings as cheaply as possible. Many church buildings blend into their environment.
This is a stark contrast to much of church history. In past centuries the church building was often the largest and most expensive building in town. The church building did not blend in. It stood out. It was impossible not to notice the church. The church was costly and elaborate. In some cases it took decades to build the building.
What is the proper mentality regarding church buildings? Should they be expensive and stand out? Or should they be modest and blend in?
The book of Haggai does not answer this question directly, but it does give us some things to think about as we evaluate our attitude towards church buildings.
Watch the video to learn more or scroll down to read the transcript.
Transcript:
The conventional wisdom in 21st century Christianity is that church buildings should be modest. There is no restraint on building large buildings if the size of the congregation justifies the size, but there is restraint on excessive decoration and cost. There is pressure against using expensive building materials and techniques. Many congregations try to build their buildings as cheaply as possible. Many church buildings blend into their environment.
This is a stark contrast to much of church history. In past centuries the church building was often the largest and most expensive building in town. The church building did not blend in. It stood out. It was impossible not to notice the church. The church was costly and elaborate. In some cases it took decades to build the building.
What is the proper mentality regarding church buildings? Should they be expensive and stand out? Or should they be modest and blend in?
The book of Haggai does not answer this question directly, but it does give us some things to think about as we evaluate our attitude towards church buildings.
Yahweh delivered the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt around 1500BC. He took them into the wilderness and instructed them to build a tabernacle as the centerpiece of their religion. Over the next 500 years the Israelites moved the tabernacle from place to place as they wandered in the wilderness, conquered the Canaanites, and then lived in the promised land.
Around 1000BC Solomon built a permanent temple in Jerusalem. It was a fabulous and expensive structure. That building served as the focal point for Israel for the next 400 years.
Unfortunately, Israel was very sinful. In 586BC the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem, took many Jews to Babylon as exiles, and destroyed Jerusalem and the temple.
Roughly 70 years later some Jews were allowed to travel back to Jerusalem to rebuild the city and the temple. However, they were slack in rebuilding the temple. Therefore, Yahweh sent prophets to confront their lack of action. Haggai was one of those prophets.
Hag. 1:1 In the second year of Darius the king, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of Yahweh came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying,
There are a lot of words in this verse. The essential statement is that Yahweh sent a message via Haggai to the governor and the high priest.
2 “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘This people says, “The time has not come, even the time for the house of Yahweh to be rebuilt.”’”
Major Break
Sometimes, one of the challenges in understanding the Bible is understanding the quotations. Sometimes the Bible quotes a person quoting a person who was quoting a person. In this case Haggai was quoting Yahweh who was quoting the Jewish inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Biblical Hebrew authors used the letter pe to indicate a major break and the letter samech to indicate a minor break. These breaks are clearly part of the Hebrew text; however, modern translations do not include these breaks in their translations. I do not know why.
Haggai inserted a major break after he quoted Yahweh, indicating there was a pause. It appears Yahweh made His statement, and then waited before He made further comment because He wanted the Jews to think about their attitude toward the temple before He told them what He thought of it.
Hag. 1:3 Then the word of Yahweh came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 “Is it time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses while this house lies waste?”
Yahweh wanted the Jews to think about how they treated themselves versus how they treated Yahweh. They wanted fine houses for themselves, but apparently they did not care about Yahweh’s house.
5 So now, thus says Yahweh of hosts, “Set your heart to consider your ways! 6 You have sown much, but bring in little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a bag with holes.”
Major Break
The Jews were working hard, but had little to show for it. Their harvest was small. They did not have enough food, drink, or clothing. Yahweh implied they were not successful in life because they cared about their own house more than they cared about Yahweh.
Hag. 1:7 Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “Set your heart to consider your ways! 8 Go up to the mountains and bring wood and rebuild the house of God, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified,” says Yahweh.
Notice Yahweh wanted to be glorified by His house. In order to be glorified by His house, His house would need to stand out and be impressive.
9 “You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; and you bring it home, and I blow it away. Why?” declares Yahweh of hosts, “Because of My house which lies waste, while each of you runs to his own house. 10 Therefore, because of you the sky has restrained its dew and the earth has restrained its produce. 11 And I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on men, on cattle, and on all the labor of your hands.”
minor break
Yahweh stated clearly that the Jews were not prospering because they did not build Him a house. The problem was not just that they didn’t build Him a house, the problem was they had built their own houses, but did not care about the temple.
For much of church history, Christians had the mentality that the church building should be the biggest, most expensive, and most beautiful building in town. Today, many Christians have the opposite mentality and believe the church building should be cheap and nondescript. Which is the correct mentality?
Haggai does not answer that directly. However, Haggai does prompt us to examine ourselves, particularly our attitude toward our own homes versus our church buildings. Do we care about our homes more than our churches? Do we insist on great places for us to live while being nonchalant about where we go to church? Do we want a fabulous home that proclaims our success while being content with a mediocre church building that fails to proclaim the glory and power of our Creator?
Buildings make statements. Houses make statements about the people who live in them. Office buildings make statements about the people who design them and the companies that build and occupy them.
What statements do our modern church buildings make about our priorities and our beliefs about God? Do they make good statements or bad statements? Do our churches proclaim the glory of God, or do they reveal that God is merely an afterthought in our lives?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”