Imagine There’s No Church (building), Part 2

(continued)
This doesn’t mean that we should run right out and sell off all our buildings, lease temp space, and go “building-less.” It means that how we think of “church” has a lot more to do with BEING the church Monday through Saturday than it does with GOING to church on Sunday. Church-buildings tend to obfuscate the practice of being the church, as the New Testament presents it.

For example, not once does the New Testament refer to “church” as a building. The word “church” (ekklesia) is mentioned 114 times, but in every instance it refers to a body of believers. Not a building. “Church,” and a “church building,” are not at all the same thing in the New Testament.

Here’s the kicker. For over 300 years “the church” survived (actually, it thrived!) without church buildings. The earliest Christians met in their homes for much of the first three centuries. Only as Christianity became an officially “tolerated” religion of the Roman Empire did buildings begin to be constructed for the purpose of having a meeting place for the believers.

Today Christianity is spreading like wildfire in China. And Asia. And Africa. For the most part it’s a House Church Movement, especially in China and Asia. There are very few, if any, official church buildings. Just like in the first three centuries. It’s spreading like wildfire because the believers ARE the church in their towns and villages. Their focus is on BEING the church rather than GOING to church. Here in America we have invested billions of dollars in beautiful church buildings over dozens of decades that we can GO to on Sunday morning. But attendance at “church” continues to decline precipitously all throughout the U.S., and virtually all denominations have lost millions of members over the last 40 years.

So, I’ve been wondering… are we missing something here?