The question...

By: Al Whittaker.

It happened again the other day. “The question” came up. The one I never seem to have a satisfactory response to. It came from someone with good intentions – someone who really cares about our church. You know the question. You’ve probably asked it yourself. Sometimes I think I’m the only person at Storehouse who hasn’t asked it. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve spent plenty of time hashing it over. I’ve beaten that horse a few times.
You never know when it’s going to come up. Sometimes it’s over snacks at House Church. Sometimes it’s in the middle of unloading the truck early on a Sunday morning. Sometimes it’s in a phone conversation with someone that’s relatively new to the church. Sometimes it’s at a conference with a group of leaders. It even comes up at our staff meetings every few weeks – and it usually ends up consuming a couple of hours.
“When are we going to have our own building?”
I think I know the answer, but I have decided I am not going to try to give it anymore. I never seem to have a satisfactory response anyway. From now on, I am just going to answer with more questions: Why do you think we need a building? How much do you think it will cost? Where do you think it should be? How big do you think it should be? What do you think the benefit will be? What will we be able to do then that we can’t do now? Consider yourself warned … if you ask me “the question,” I’m firing back.
Usually, when I hear it I get the feeling that maybe we’re not a “real” church. That we haven’t really arrived. Or that we need to “grow up.” Often, it seems to come with a bit of sympathy and an expectation that I will want to commiserate about our situation. I don’t. You see, I don’t think of it as a liability. I think of it as an opportunity.
“But think about all that work we won’t have to do?” they say. What work? Oh, you mean loading and unloading the truck, and setting things up every week. Yeah, you’re right. It is work. But guess what? Buildings come with work, too. Like cleaning bathrooms, taking out the trash, cleaning carpets and cutting grass. And they come with expenses, too. Like leaky roofs, broken air conditioners, clogged sewer lines, light bulbs and toilet paper. Oh, and they sit empty most of the week.
And here’s another piece of news for you – we’re not the only church in America doing this. As a matter of fact, there seems to be a cottage industry of companies springing up doing nothing but servicing “portable churches.” One company alone claims to have served over 1,200 churches, and most of them are meeting in rented school facilities. (Incidentally, according to their marketing materials some churches are spending five to six hours setting up every week. We set up in just over an hour!)
I recently read an article from Relevant Magazine titled “What if church was meant to be something entirely different than what it looks like today?” It asked “Could it be that we have lost the concept of what it means to be the church rather than go to church?” And it said “if you look at the word ‘church’ in the Bible, it’s interesting that it is never used to describe a building or an organization. The word ‘church’ is always used to refer to a gathering, crowd, group, or an assembly of people who believed in this Messiah Jesus. It was a deep-seated community with a purpose.”
Wow. No building required? Maybe we’re onto something here.

BTW, a recent estimate indicated that a building would cost us somewhere around $7 million. At our current rate of growth we would outgrow it before we got it built and on the very first Sunday would have to have two services. And then I would have to get up even earlier … and those who know me know that I don’t like mornings. Now that I will commiserate over.