Making it Real
The Baby and the Bathwater. Part 1. Buildings.
Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater! This article looks at one of the differences betweenthe baby and the religious bathwater.
The obsession with needing religious buildings, real estate or simply an organisation to belong to, is typical of ”institutional thinking”.
Religions almost always have special buildings... temples, churches, mosques,
kingdom halls etc. They give more money, time and love to their buildings than they do to other people, and they can get very angry at those who disagree.
In 2005, the Catholic Church, owned more real estate globally than any other organisation or individual on earth. Just their real estate investments produced a
nearly $30 billion profit.
The managers of the property assets of The Church of England, had assets valued around £5 billion as at the end of 2011.
These mega churches, although some members are sincerelycommitted to helping the poor, are largely business corporations with leaders who are swindling their congregations to build their filthy rich and respectable religious empires. And the smaller religious groups are usually seeking the same thing.
We are often asked which church do we go to. But Christians donʼt GO to church, because they ARE the church. The first Christian “church” was a community of people who gave up everything to live together and shared what they had without ownership. (Acts 2:44-45, 4:32-35) But a horribly corrupt, greedy, violent counterfeit visible “church” soon emerged to persecute the true “baby” in their quest for property, power and money to build their empires.
It is because of this blatant corruption and greed that epitomises much of the religious establishment, that we can understand why people hear words like “Christian” or “Jesus” and react in disgust.
Jesus never owned property, but was homeless. He taught people to sell what they owned and give the money to the poor. (Luke 12:33) and that we donʼt need to go to a special place to worship God. (John 4:21-24) The only charge his critics could agree on to crucify him was that they said he claimed he would destroy their temple in Jerusalem. (Matthew 26:59-61)
God doesnʼt live in temples. The first Christian martyr was stoned by the Jews shortly after he told them this. (Acts 7:48-50)
But didnʼt God want the Jewish temple to be built?
Historically, the early Israelites lived in tents, as nomads, but soon they demanded a king (a human leader) and the king soon wanted to build a temple. God replied through a prophet...
”I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my house...Did I ever say “Why havenʼt you built me a house?””
The prophecy said that a descendent of King David would come and that “He is the one who will build a house for my Name.” (2 Samuel 7:5-7, 12-16)
Jesus was that descendent and the “house” heʼs building is the spiritual and invisible “kingdom of heaven”. The building blocks are sincere people, not lifeless stones. (1 Peter 2:4-8)
Jesus said he and his teachings are the cornerstone of his church, (or the “baby”), and that the religious builders have rejected that cornerstone (to keep their religious bathwater instead!) (Luke 20:17)
Letʼs keep the baby and toss out the bathwater!