But on balance, I have come to believe church buildings do us more harm than good. Buildings propel the wrong people into church leadership. The impractical, dreamy and foolishly generous whom Jesus himself chose for leadership never make it in church elections. Parishioners with gifts like healing, prayer and teaching are certainly valued, but they are rarely put in charge because the property requires lawyers, bankers and businessmen to make the important decisions. Leadership meetings focus on property, not on the congregation's spiritual well-being.
Property dominates church spending.
The budget share devoted to property maintenance far outweighs spending on missions, children, the hungry, the naked, or any of those mentioned in Matthew 25. Church buildings reflect our tastes and our wealth. We say we do it for God, but Jesus called people away from property, not toward it. Jesus said his followers would have no homes - we build bastions of permanence and then argue about who gets to use them. Jesus broke down barriers - we build churches resembling castles.