New Construction

The Beauty of the Church as God's Building

In his biography of C.S. Lewis, Alistair McGrath highlights the colorful array of metaphors the Oxford professor used to describe his conversion. Lewis didn’t settle for just one image; the reality of God intruding upon his life was too vast for a single description. He spoke of the “hunter and the prey,” the “chess player” maneuvering an opponent into a corner, and the “rebel surrendering.”

One of his most evocative images however comes from Mere Christianity, where he describes the process of sanctification not merely as a repair job, but as a total renovation project. Lewis writes:

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on... But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of... You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”[1]

We often apply this metaphor to our individual spiritual lives. We know we are under construction. But the New Testament also applies this architectural language to our corporate life, as the Church.

There are of course many other metaphors for spiritual community. In my ministry spaces, we tend to prefer the “organic” metaphors. We favor speaking of the church as a “body” or “field.” These images feel warm and alive, and help us describe Spirit-empowered growth. But Lewis (and more importantly, scripture) layers metaphors for a reason. The church as God’s building contributes certain essential things to our understanding, including structural integrity, intentional design, and the importance of choosing quality materials.

A Given Identity

In the world of house church ministry, it is easy get stuck in a cycle of constant evaluation. Because our communities are relatively small, simple, and intimate, we feel every fluctuation in energy or tempo. Leaders can easily find themselves taking the temperature of the group more often than they should.

Of course, critical evaluation is important and can stem from humility and a deep concern to be faithful to God’s calling. But regardless of how the church “feels” at any given time, we can’t lose sight of what it is positionally before God.

Paul writes to the Ephesians, a group of people struggling to understand how Jews and Gentiles could possibly fit together:

“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.” (Ephesians 2:19-20)

Note the stability of this imagery. A foundation is not something you can move with ease. A cornerstone sets the scope of the shape and structure which is built on top of it.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, writes this in Life Together:

“Christian brotherhood is not an ideal which we must realize; it is rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate. The more clearly we learn to recognize that the ground and strength and promise of all our fellowship is in Jesus Christ alone, the more serenely shall we think of our fellowship and pray and hope for it.”

The church-as-building metaphor then, ought to anchor us. No matter the condition of our church (large, small, growing, stagnant, exciting, stale), we as God’s people remain positionally the same.

A Fixed Purpose

If the church is (metaphorically speaking) a building, then what is it built for?

In the Old Testament, the temple had a singular purpose: it was the dwelling place of God. It was where God allowed his presence to exist in proximity to his people, but still intentionally separated by ritual and structure. But with the tearing of the temple veil after Christ’s perfect sacrifice (Matthew 27:51), and the prophesied pouring out of God’s Spirit at Pentecost (Joel 2:28), everything changes. We can now speak correctly of the “temple” as being God’s people wherever they gather in Jesus’ name (Matthew 18:19-20). This is also what Jesus implied to the Samaritan woman when he said,

“Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship… But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.” (John 4:21-23).

And so, Paul is correct when he says, “In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:21-22)

As God’s temple, we are under construction to become a “place” where people meet with God and experience his presence. Of course, in a house church setting, we don’t have the aid of high vaulted ceilings, stained glass, or smoke machines to create an atmosphere of awe and reverence. Instead, we sit on second-hand couches in living rooms, or a smattering of old folding chairs. Fortunately, the particulars of our meeting spaces don’t have to matter all too much.

We display God instead through how we love, relate, and worship.

Paul says, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:15-17).

Peter expands this image, calling us a “Royal Priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9). He overlays metaphors, calling us both the individual “stones” that are shaped together to form the structure, but also the priests who minister within it. Our job is to “declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness.” We do this by sharing the Gospel, living like Jesus, loving one another, and gathering regularly in his name.

Material Matters

Further complicating the image, or at least approaching it from a different frame, Paul points out that the building/temple of God is also something we help to build. Therefore, he reasons, it matters how we build, or what materials we use in furthering the Kingdom.

“By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.” (1 Corinthians 3:10-13).

Wood, hay, and straw are cheap, and easy to find. You can also stack them quickly to achieve the illusion of size. You can build a massive hut in a day with straw. In ministry, this could look like relying on superficial attractional methods, building hype, or shallow affirming teachings to draw a crowd. It could look like discipleship that focuses only on behavior modification rather than true heart change. This might also be double-minded, worldly Christianity that calls “spiritual” what is really just the frothing of human pride and ambition.

Gold, silver, and costly stones are expensive. They are hard to find. They require deep excavation. Building with these materials is slow work. But compared with wood, hay, and straw, they are beautiful and durable. In ministry, this could look like the painstaking work of worldview change leading to real discipleship. It looks like walking with someone through their problems, correcting theology with patience, and calling them people to a transformed life of service. This approach won’t typically produce quick results that look good on a chart, but it can produce a durable “structure” that will last.

The Shaping Phase

Part of building with precious stones involves the process of shaping. In ancient masonry, a stone had to be chiseled and cut to fit into the wall. It had to lose its rough edges to sit flush against the other stones.

We often come to Christian community expecting to be affirmed just as we are. But if we are truly living stones being built into a spiritual house, we should expect a certain amount of demolition to make way for new construction. Our selfish ambition, our autonomy, and our cultural idols are among the rough edges that must be smoothed out if we are ever to fit well.

God, the true master builder, often uses the other stones (our brothers and sisters in Christ) to wear those rough edges down. This is why friction in community is not always a sign that something is wrong. Without friction, or bumping up against one another, we probably wouldn’t change to a point where we can stick together. As we teach and admonish (Col 3:16) guided by love and God’s Spirit, we are participating in the shaping process.

We also serve the whole building by allowing ourselves to be shaped as individual stones. When you have a whole community of people engaging in this process, the results are beautiful beyond comparison.

Inspection

Paul’s metaphor in 1 Corinthians 3 culminates in a sobering conclusion.

“...their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.” (1 Corinthians 3:13)

This is not a judgment regarding salvation. Paul clarifies that it is the person’s work that is being inspected, and those who build poorly “will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames” (3:15).

We are not building for the approval of a denomination, a donor base, a social media following, and not even affirmation from our friends. What ultimately matters is that what we build brings glory and pleasure to God.

There is a lot our world thinks is awesome that is likely to be incinerated. There is a lot that gets ignored or look down upon that will still be standing proud through eternity!

Building in Context

So, as we look at our communities, often messy, perhaps small, sometimes struggling, we must ask ourselves: “What resources has God given me with which to build?” While the church stands with a fixed identity before God, what it looks like any given context should be true to its embodied mission.

We should strive for excellence, confident that what God is building is of inestimable value to him. We have an apparent role to play is this grand constriction project, but we are not building alone. We have the Holy Spirit as our power source. We have scripture as our blueprint. And we have Jesus Christ as the cornerstone - our sturdy and unchanging foundation.

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[1] C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: Macmillan, 1952), 174.

[2] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, trans. John W. Doberstein (New York: Harper & Row, 1954).