Articles
God Authorizes Church Buildings As An Expedient
God Authorizes Church Buildings As An Expedient
By Paul R. Blake
(I was asked the following question by a brother in Germany: "Authority for the building is necessary to be established first before the expedients that follow. We are commanded to assemble in places like James 2.2; Heb. 10.25, but paying for them out of the treasury rather than meeting in homes or catacombs or synagogues or such, we have no example. How do you defend this practice? The liberal brethren use this as a stepping stone for their many practices without authority. Expedients and necessary conclusions are sometimes a problem for me.")
With regard to expediencies, God often commands a thing without giving specific instructions on how to carry it out. The common illustration is Matthew 28:18-20 where Jesus said to "Go." He did not tell them how, but rather left it up to us to do it in the most expedient way we can. I "go" by car. Some preachers do so by radio broadcast. Some brethren go by way of the correspondence course, or tracts, or home Bible studies, or sermon tapes. All are "going" out with the message to make disciples, but each uses the method most expedient for him and his hearers.
The work of the church is edification, evangelism, and limited benevolence. Offerings and collections are made to accomplish these works (1Cor. 16:1-3; Acts 11:27-30; 2Cor. 11:8; Phil. 4:15-16; et al). In the matter of edifying the saints, Christians are commanded to assemble. Inherent in the command to assemble is the necessity of a place of assembly. In the first century, disciples met where it was expedient. Early on they met in synagogues, until the Jews would have no more to do with them. For a time they met in one another's homes, as long as there was room. They met by riversides, on hillsides, in marketplaces, in forums, until persecution arose and it was no longer safe to meet publicly; so, they went underground into catacombs and tombs. After persecution ended and Christianity began to be looked upon with favor, kings and governors began to seize pagan temples and give them to Christians for places of worship. When I was preaching in Washington, PA in the late 1970s, we met in a fire hall; at 56th street in Tampa, we met in a store front; at one time in East Pittsburgh, the members met in a YMCA. In every case, the determining factor has been expediency... what works best under the circumstances that satisfies the command of God without violating any other matter of authority.
Likewise it is so with the matter of purchasing a church building for the members to meet for worship and edification. Preachers are hired with the Lord's money to help keep the command to evangelize and edify. But it is not always expedient or necessary to have a preacher. In places where the elders are good public speakers, they should do the preaching at that local work and send the preachers out to start new works, just like the elders did at Jerusalem and Antioch. To have a preacher or not, to have a building or not, depends upon the needs of the situation. Good judgment is called for in determining what is expedient.
In some places, the most expedient means of keeping the command to assemble is to build a meeting house. Is it wrong? Let's ask a few questions:
1) Is it mishandling the Lord's money? No. The church is using those funds wisely to accommodate the needs of the saints for edification and worship.
2) Can a church building become a misuse of the Lord's money? Yes, if the brethren use it for activities not authorized for the disciples as a collectivity (as a local church). Edification, worship, evangelism, limited benevolence are all authorized for the church as a collectivity, and the building purchased with the Lord's money is a means of facilitating those works. However, social activities are not a work of the church as a collectivity, but are individual works instead. Therefore, the building may not be used for these unauthorized activities.
To suggest that because erring brethren use the building as a stepping stone to other wrong practices and therefore we can't have a building, is tantamount to saying that because the denominations use baptism as a sacrament, then we can't baptize. Just because one group misuses an authorized thing does not mean that it becomes a wrong thing for others who use it correctly. In logic, this kind of faulty reasoning is known as a sophistry. Technically, it is a false appeal to the slippery slope dilemma.
The church building is not a sacred structure, but it is purchased with the Lord's money; therefore, that which is practiced in it must be guided by the authority of the owner... God. We purchase a church building in order to properly carry out God's instructions to teach the lost and edify the saved. This is the essence of a scripturally authorized expediency.
One final note: it is a weakness in understanding to call the structure in which Christians assemble “the church.” The church will never be a physical building, which should be described as “the church building” or the “meeting house.” The church of our Lord is always and only what the New Testament says it is: the Christians in a given community who assemble locally for worship or the entire fellowship of the saved in Christ. Brethren, stop calling the building “the church!”
After the November 2024 election is over, we can still guarantee these results:
1. God will still be on His throne.
2. Jesus will still be King of kings and LORD of Lords.
3. The Bible will still have all the answers to every problem.
4. The tomb will still be empty.
5. Jesus will still be the only way to heaven.
6. Prayer will still work; it will still make a difference, and God will still answer prayer.
7. The cross, not the government, will still be our salvation.
8. There will still be room at the cross.
9. Jesus will still save anyone who places their faith and trust in Him.
10. God will still be with us always; He will never leave us or forsake us.
A Moments Wisdom
--Don’t shine so that others can see you. Shine so that through you, others can see Him. (C.S. Lewis)
--Though teachers are held to a higher standard, it does not mean that members are held to little or no standard at all. Both the pulpit and the pew are called to live holy.
--When the state does everything for you, it will soon take everything from you. (Margaret Thatcher)
--Gratitude turns what we have into enough.
--The greatest evils in the world will not be carried out by men with guns, but by men in suits sitting behind desks. (C.S. Lewis)
--Sometimes you have to accept the fact that certain things will never go back to how they used to be.
--Tolerance is the last virtue of a depraved society. When you have an immoral society that has blatantly, proudly violated all of the commandments of God, there is one last virtue they insist on: tolerance for their immorality. In case you are confused, tolerance is not a fruit of the spirit. (James Kennedy)
Upcoming Sermons
8/4/24 AM - “Father, Forgive Them, For They Know Not What They Do”; PM - Themed Singing Service: “God Calls Us,” Prepared by Hannah and Rebekah Richardson
8/11/24 AM - When God Changes His Mind; PM - Exceeding the Righteousness of the Pharisees
8/18/24 AM - “Who is This Son of Man?” PM - Climbing the Tower of Babel
8/25/24 AM - Have You Been Transformed or Just Baptized? PM - Boaz the Redeemer
