robbing from the poor.
I'm kinda bummed.
A couple of weeks ago I walked into my church and they're doing like these what must costs thousands of dollars rennovations to our foyer in church. At first I thought well maybe it was necessary to put tiles in if the costs of cleaning carpets was too high I could see it. But painting the walls, putting a bunch of plasma screens in, and getting new chairs is this all necessary? On top of it get go into the sermon and there's these gigantic screens bigger than the main middle one that they had on each side of the church. Umm okay? Really to me they're more of a distraction and an eye-sore than anything. Obviously this irks me more than ever especially after reading the Irresistible Revolution. The last few chapters and purely about not spending tithe's on the church and more specifically investing it in unnecessary expansions/improvements. What wrecks it more for me is also the fact that my pastor very proudly lives by this book. Well not lives by it, but he respects it and often quotes it in his sermons. So after watching all of these rennovations being done when we got to church for our pre-marital counselling stuff I said to him. "Dude what do you think of all of these changes in the church" to which is reply was "Man i think it's so awesome", obviously kinda dumbfounded I said "Really, I think it's kind of unnecessary" and he replies "you have to look at the bigger picture though". I still need to ask him what this bigger picture is but I just haven't had time. So i'm confused how can 4 medium plasma screens, tuns of rennovations, new chairs, and gigantic screens which literally must've costed thousands on their own benefit us the church? We can be flashier sure. But why? So that we can draw people in that only respect a church because it looks like they have some dollars? If so, then were drawing in the wrong kind of people. What good is it to talk about helping the homeless, and loving people, and building communities if so much money is being invested into making our church more modern, or in the times. Some of the most respected church's in this world are ones that are nearly torn down. God doesn't care about flashy billboards, Coffee shops in churches, or huge screens that just so happened to distract me from the entire service tonight.
I'm really dissapointed, and obviously I'll talk to my church about this but it just really irks me. Especially when I know for a fact that there are plenty of poor students, and poor young-adults with babies ect in that church who really could use the help. I realize that were going to start filming church and that the screens are there so people on the balcony can see and the others ones are in the foyer so that the mamma's with babies can see but these are what nursery rooms are for, and we have sat on the balcony since day 1 and we can see just fine, it's not that far up.
I don't know. I have really mixed emotions about this. I just feel like if Jesus was here today he'd be throwing a fit. I know that our service isn't the decision makers for that church and were just a non-denominational service in the evening. I go there because I love the people, I love the message, and we can really relate to our pastor. But I don't like flashy buildings. I don't like the message it feels like were giving out whether that's the way it's meant to be taken or not.
Ugh, my stomach hurts. It makes me want to cry really. I don't know why it makes me so sad but it does. I feel like there's so many people that we could help with that money instead of putting in a new screen.
BAH HUM BUG.
A couple of weeks ago I walked into my church and they're doing like these what must costs thousands of dollars rennovations to our foyer in church. At first I thought well maybe it was necessary to put tiles in if the costs of cleaning carpets was too high I could see it. But painting the walls, putting a bunch of plasma screens in, and getting new chairs is this all necessary? On top of it get go into the sermon and there's these gigantic screens bigger than the main middle one that they had on each side of the church. Umm okay? Really to me they're more of a distraction and an eye-sore than anything. Obviously this irks me more than ever especially after reading the Irresistible Revolution. The last few chapters and purely about not spending tithe's on the church and more specifically investing it in unnecessary expansions/improvements. What wrecks it more for me is also the fact that my pastor very proudly lives by this book. Well not lives by it, but he respects it and often quotes it in his sermons. So after watching all of these rennovations being done when we got to church for our pre-marital counselling stuff I said to him. "Dude what do you think of all of these changes in the church" to which is reply was "Man i think it's so awesome", obviously kinda dumbfounded I said "Really, I think it's kind of unnecessary" and he replies "you have to look at the bigger picture though". I still need to ask him what this bigger picture is but I just haven't had time. So i'm confused how can 4 medium plasma screens, tuns of rennovations, new chairs, and gigantic screens which literally must've costed thousands on their own benefit us the church? We can be flashier sure. But why? So that we can draw people in that only respect a church because it looks like they have some dollars? If so, then were drawing in the wrong kind of people. What good is it to talk about helping the homeless, and loving people, and building communities if so much money is being invested into making our church more modern, or in the times. Some of the most respected church's in this world are ones that are nearly torn down. God doesn't care about flashy billboards, Coffee shops in churches, or huge screens that just so happened to distract me from the entire service tonight.
I'm really dissapointed, and obviously I'll talk to my church about this but it just really irks me. Especially when I know for a fact that there are plenty of poor students, and poor young-adults with babies ect in that church who really could use the help. I realize that were going to start filming church and that the screens are there so people on the balcony can see and the others ones are in the foyer so that the mamma's with babies can see but these are what nursery rooms are for, and we have sat on the balcony since day 1 and we can see just fine, it's not that far up.
I don't know. I have really mixed emotions about this. I just feel like if Jesus was here today he'd be throwing a fit. I know that our service isn't the decision makers for that church and were just a non-denominational service in the evening. I go there because I love the people, I love the message, and we can really relate to our pastor. But I don't like flashy buildings. I don't like the message it feels like were giving out whether that's the way it's meant to be taken or not.
Ugh, my stomach hurts. It makes me want to cry really. I don't know why it makes me so sad but it does. I feel like there's so many people that we could help with that money instead of putting in a new screen.
BAH HUM BUG.