The Problem of Venerated Buildings

Post written by Darin Slater, Elder of Genesis Church.

As more and more news about Israel and the ongoing war in the Palestinian region comes out, one often hears about the threat of a nuclear attack that, hypothetically, could take out Israel and thus start a nuclear war. Those scenarios have been painted for years and years by war mongers and peace seekers alike, some wanting the fight to begin, others warning of its dire consequences.

One fact, however, makes the possibility of this a little less realistic, or at least dissuades the likelihood of it happening. You see, Israel is home to more than one religion’s historic and, to them, sacred places, and therefore, a wide scale attack there would be damaging, not only to their enemies, but also to themselves.

For the Jews, the Wailing Wall, or Western Wall, is a sacred place to visit and pray, for is the only standing remains of the original Temple Mount upon which the Temple of Solomon once stood. Destroyed by the Babylonians in 538BC, it would later be rebuilt in the late Medo-Persian empire at the behest of Cyrus, King of Persia, and would stand until 70AD, when the Romans took the temple down, all the way to its foundations, of which, only the retaining wall still stands today. Further, the whole city and region was a gift to them by God promised in His covenants and further won and claimed by David, their first good king.

On top of the remnants of the Temple Mount, however, is another sacred place to those who follow Islam, the religion of Mohammad. It is called the Dome of the Rock, a structure which has stood now for almost 1500 years. Build near 691BC, this is considered the oldest, most beautiful, most iconic, and unique monument of Islam. It is said the rock the Dome covers is the very place where God created man, where Abraham’s hand was stayed when he was told to sacrifice Isaac on the alter, and where, millennia later, Mohammad, took his Night Journey and met with God.

Finally, of Christian significance, this area of the world, and in particular, the cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem, bear significant weight in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, as well as the home of the first church, where upon the Holy Spirit of God first descended on His people. Furthermore, this area of the world, many Christians would attest, is the center stage where, at the end of the age, Jesus Christ will return and put all things under His kingly reign, making all things right and dispatching the evils of this world, bringing in everlasting life, peace, and righteousness.

More could certainly be said, but here is the thrust of this story: imagine with me, if you would, a nuclear attack on these places. God forbid, the wailing wall and Jerusalem gone in a nuclear flash. The Dome of the Rock obliterated. Whole histories of three major religions wiped off the map in the blink of an eye, made unrecognizable under the rubble. It seems hard to fathom, and yet, weapons such as those that destroyed Nagasaki and Hiroshima are within arms reach of Israel. That threat is ready and imminent, and is quite literally the press of a button or the keying of a code away from possible. It would certainly mean the beginning of World War 3, and probably 4, 5, 6, and more.

I think it would be argued that Jews would be devastated and would wage war should this occurrence happen, even those who are non-religious; likewise, Islam as a whole would certainly declare a Holy War (Jihad) on those who destroyed such a sacred place in their religious history.

What about Christianity? Do we have Holy sites to us that would spur us into War and retaliation? The closest most consider a “holy site” is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which is said to be located near or on the very tomb Jesus raise from the dead in, and encompasses Golgotha, the place where Jesus was crucified. Wikipedia describes this as “the holiest site for Christians in the world”, but is it? No doubt many within the Catholic faith would approve of that description, as they, though the years of church history, declared many places, things, and people “holy” or “venerated”, places of special religious significance that, especially during the Crusades, people fought and died to keep and protect.

Question: does the Bible prescribe for us places that are holy and sacred, places that, if destroyed or defamed or done away with, would ruin our faith or drive us to war? I believe the answer is No, however, my thesis is that many Christians, without knowing, have made their church, their building, this very thing.

“Take off your hat, this is God’s house!”

“No food or drink in the sanctuary!”

I have heard this or many other dissuasions from food or drink or clothing and likely more come from the mouth of well meaning people. I have no issue with churches patrolling their spaces and keeping down the messes and upkeep, some of that is wise. How many of us have grasped the end of a chair or church pew only to find someone’s left over gum right beneath? That is certainly annoying (and gross if fresh), but worthy of going to war over? Worthy of ejecting someone or humiliating someone over?

Christian’s have always struggled with keeping vain religion out of our true religion. Our history, even throughout scripture as Paul strove to teach the church the true Way, is full of people who confuse the secular for the sacred.

1 Timothy 1:3-7 speaks of a for instance of this;

“As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.”

Paul’s whole point is, it really doesn’t matter at all who your ancestors are, who we are in Christ is what matters. What we teach and proclaim is what matters. Our orthodoxy and orthopraxy both matter.

Another example is, as Christian history progressed, we then see certain people stylizing themselves as “Followers of (insert name here.)” They would claim Paul, or John the Baptist, or whoever, as their patron, and therefore, see themselves as better or more whole than other believers.

This did not stop, but rather evolved throughout the years after the first church. The church would find or create “Relics”, or things that could provide blessings or boons to those who prayed near them, or touched them, or held them. Such items are “pieces of the crown of thorns” or “a bottle of Mary’s breastmilk” or “fragments of the True Cross.” If you wanted to truly be with God or interact with God, or if you wanted to show how great a Christian you were, you would pilgrim to the places where these were kept and pray, give alms and sacrifice some possession, and then, you would be noticed by God and by the church.

A prime example of this was Martin Luther’s journey to the “Scala Sancta”, a set of stairs in Rome that were said to have been the very stairs upon which Jesus walked up to Pontious Pilate. If one made pilgrimage to these stairs, and said the “Our Father” prayer upon each step, you could redeem one soul from purgatory. Ironically, this spiritual experience, or the lack thereof, was the beginning of Luther’s reformation

Luther realized, as we all should, that what these stairs have in common with sites like the Wailing Wall and the Dome of the Rock, is that in truth, they have zero real meaning spiritually for the believer, and, for that matter, neither does the building you meet in.

Why then are Christians so beholden to our buildings, our steeples, our church buildings? Simply: we have made something sacred out of something mundane. We have twisted and turned the word “Church” and made it into a sacred place, instead of what it always has been, a sacred people. A church isn’t ruined if their building is torn down, if it is repossessed, if a tornado tears through it, if a terrorist bombs it, or if a government destroys it. No, the ways a church dies is if:

1. The people perish and go to be with the Lord. Even then, can it truly be said to be dead? In fact, it has been only transitioned into MORE life than it had before!
2. A church apostates and walks away from the true faith. Then, bereft of a saving Gospel and true worship of Yahweh, it’s people lose faith and ceases to be a visible body of Christ.
3. A church becomes so self-important and blinded by pride that, while holding to orthodoxy, or superficially claiming and clothing themselves so, it stops making disciples and instead becomes a tomb for those unwilling to go on mission.

The people of God gathered is the place, wherever that place is, where God meets with His people. As the scripture is opened, they hear His voice. As they pray, their Father hears their requests and joyfully answers them. As they take communion, they taste and see that He is good. As they sing, they lift up His praise for everyone, even the angels, to hear. As people are called by the Gospel proclaimed, convert, and are saved, they are baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection. And as the church scatters from that meeting for a time, they are the church militant, the sent, ambassadors of Christ to a lost and dying world. The gathering is where the beauty is at, where God blessed His people, and that gathering isn’t restrained by where or when they are gathered.

I write this as my church builds its first building, but for almost 20 years, it has been a mobile church meeting in schools. In that time, it’s moved locations twice due to the school it was in making them leave, and during Covid in 2020 it went wherever it could to continue meeting. In all that time, it never stopped being a church. What defines a church, what makes it unlike Islam or Judaism, is definitional to what it means to be a Christian, and they cannot be separated, because the nature of the church IS the nature of the people: called and sent disciples of Jesus Christ. If we are called but not sent, we disobey and hate the commands of our Lord; if we go but are not called, we are no better than snake oil salesmen giving you promise of health and life but without any ability to deliver on that promise.

Let me be blunt for a moment: Islam is a false religion, and it doesn’t matter for one more moment that the Dome of the Rock remains standing. It’s an alter to idolatry and demonic influence. Mohammad was no more a prophet than David Koresh, the leader of the Branch Dividians in Waco, Texas, was. Further, modern Judaism, as seen today, bares almost no resemblance to Biblical Judaism, but is instead the dregs and works-righteousness cult of the Pharisees passed down through the centuries. Praying at the Wailing Wall may satisfy some notion of curiosity or historical significance, but contains zero or less than zero benefit to your faith, apart from prayer itself. You would be better off saving your money or giving it away than spend it making pilgrimage to any of these places, or for that matter, any place at all, if you think it will somehow be a means of grace for you or draw you closer to God. It can’t, it isn’t, and it won’t.

And yet, I write this knowing that many Christians treat their church structures in the very same way. That without this dwelling built of wood and steel, mortar and fiberglass, plastic and stucco, there’s no way we can worship; therefore, protect this building at all costs, and make sure to make investment into it the priority.

If that is the state of mine of your church, better to cast that building into the fire like the Golden Calf than to continue in it. That building, that frame keeping the rain off your head is not special, it is not God’s house, and it is not sacred.

His people are. Protect that. Protect the mission of that people, to “build His church” (1 Peter 2:5), to gather in more bricks and stone from the world around. His people, and the disciples being made by His people, who then become His people, that’s sacred. That’s worth protecting. That’s worth being martyred for. That’s worth losing life and wealth and reputation for. His people, not a building.

The Dome of the Rock has stood for a long time; it will not stand forever. The wailing wall and the city of Jerusalem as a whole has no biblical guarantee of protection, and has fallen before. It can and likely will fall again. Your church building, in a few short years, will fall apart and be left to rot or bulldozed for the building of another structure. America will not stand forever. All nations rise and fall. None of these places, and in fact, no place whatsoever is guaranteed to still be standing at the return of Christ EXCEPT the people of God. We will be here. We will be standing strong and joyful as our Lord returns to make all things new, and not just new, but lasting. I’ll let you make the conclusion about what (who) we should spend our time focused on building.

Best regards,

Darin Slater