everything that's on my mind
(as if there's not already enough people doing this)Friday, August 26, 2005
City on a Hill
Well, besides unpacking, one of our top priorities now is finding a church. Of course, this will be a long process, most likely. We'll be visiting several places, and visiting each one several weekends, so it will likely be a few months before any decisions will be made.
There's one church that we feel is a most likely choice for a number of reasons, but we still plan to go to a few others as well, because we know less about them and maybe we will be led to one of those instead. We don't want to assume we know where we should go and leave God out of it, of course. So, we'll pray about it and visit some churches, and see what happens.
Speaking of churches, a couple of things I've noticed since we came back to Little Rock is a couple of new buildings that have appeared. A number of years ago, a Pentecostal church in North Little Rock built a new building right on the freeway before you cross over the river into Little Rock. At the time, it seemed huge. You couldn't miss it as you drove on I-40 through North Little Rock. And then, when we came back recently, we found that they'd built another one next to it, and this one was so large that the first one could probably fit inside of it. How much money was spent on it, I can't imagine.
Then, we drive into west Little Rock, and find that a large Baptist church in town has also built a new building. It's built on a high part of west Little Rock, and it is also huge, so that it is visible from all over west Little Rock. I call it the "city on a hill". I jokingly told my wife that the neighborhood next to it probably only gets a couple of hours of sunlight every day, because the massive building keeps it from getting to them most of the day.
I mention that because it's been something that I've thought about more in the last year or two. How do churches spend their money? Are huge buildings with the nicest amenities really necessary? What are you trying to attract people to? The building or the Savior? Could the building have been a little smaller, a little less beautiful, with cheaper and simpler features, and the money saved been spent to feed the hungry or help the poor, or in some other way reach out to those who may not feel comfortable coming to such a "nice" building? The popular question from about 10 years ago was "What would Jesus do?"
And that doesn't go just for churches, but for individuals. I'm asking those same questions of myself, because I just bought a new house, too. And I can't help but ask myself sometimes, "Did I make the right decision?"
There's one church that we feel is a most likely choice for a number of reasons, but we still plan to go to a few others as well, because we know less about them and maybe we will be led to one of those instead. We don't want to assume we know where we should go and leave God out of it, of course. So, we'll pray about it and visit some churches, and see what happens.
Speaking of churches, a couple of things I've noticed since we came back to Little Rock is a couple of new buildings that have appeared. A number of years ago, a Pentecostal church in North Little Rock built a new building right on the freeway before you cross over the river into Little Rock. At the time, it seemed huge. You couldn't miss it as you drove on I-40 through North Little Rock. And then, when we came back recently, we found that they'd built another one next to it, and this one was so large that the first one could probably fit inside of it. How much money was spent on it, I can't imagine.
Then, we drive into west Little Rock, and find that a large Baptist church in town has also built a new building. It's built on a high part of west Little Rock, and it is also huge, so that it is visible from all over west Little Rock. I call it the "city on a hill". I jokingly told my wife that the neighborhood next to it probably only gets a couple of hours of sunlight every day, because the massive building keeps it from getting to them most of the day.
I mention that because it's been something that I've thought about more in the last year or two. How do churches spend their money? Are huge buildings with the nicest amenities really necessary? What are you trying to attract people to? The building or the Savior? Could the building have been a little smaller, a little less beautiful, with cheaper and simpler features, and the money saved been spent to feed the hungry or help the poor, or in some other way reach out to those who may not feel comfortable coming to such a "nice" building? The popular question from about 10 years ago was "What would Jesus do?"
And that doesn't go just for churches, but for individuals. I'm asking those same questions of myself, because I just bought a new house, too. And I can't help but ask myself sometimes, "Did I make the right decision?"
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