Fat4 posed an interesting question regarding mega-churches. And I have to agree with his observations. Structures do not make churches. Rather, it is the individuals who live their lives of faith outside the perimeter of the structure that forms the collective we call the Church. I am not in favour of constructing magnificent places of worship in the name of God. If we need to cling on to such shallow show of grandiose to reaffirm our faith, then we truly cannot see the forest for the trees.
What would God say about the tens of millions spent to build mega-churches when an unpretentious church could be built at a fraction of the cost and the remaining amount disbursed to people who are in real need of financial assistance? What would God say when we run his Church as a business entity and every time that we go to church to worship and be in communion with Him our wallets are being assaulted instead?
Lest we forget, Jesus was born in a manger. He moved around among the masses, lived where they lived and ate what they ate. He was executed in a most undignified manner. There is much humility to be learnt from all that. The Church is out there in the real world. We build it through living a Christ-like life. Every time we put our hearts into helping our fellow humans with sincerity, we are indeed building the most glorious edifice in His name, one that time can never erase.
I agree completely.
By the same argument, the government is composed of, for and by the people. We don’t need a huge parliament house and other magnificient structures displaying the wonders of our country’s progress. No, the money spent on these huge national structures should be channeled to further help the poor and needy…
Unless we’re saying that national buildings, monumnets have a soci-cultural significance… just like churches and temples do.
Peter:
The topic of this entry is about mega-churches. Lets not stray from it. But yes, anything done excessively is not a good thing.
I agree with you ont he almost grandiose cost of some of the churches in the world. But arent we seeing the same mega structures with other religion,in Malaysia and the world over?
Peter:
The question is: Do we need such mega structures just for that “feel good” factor?
Truly, my brother in Christ,well said.
Peter:
Thank you.
whoa.. applause, applause!! very well said.. indeed when the church topic comes up, my pastor ALWAYS instils in us that it is not made up of the building but us.. so it doesnt matter how the structure of the building looks like coz at the end of the day, wat He looks at and for is our hearts, how we live our lives to REFLECT HIS NAME 🙂 nice post.. thanx for sharing, God bless!
Peter:
You are most welcome sister.
And don’t forget that mega-churches also need mega-maintenance which will sap everyone’s time and energy as well finance.However this can scarcely be a big problem in M’sia since it’s not so easy to get approval to build any church, let alone a mega church.
Peter:
Personally, I prefer to worship at a church where everybody knows everybody. I guess I am still a budak kampung at heart. 😀