Many believe there is no harm in church buildings. In fact, most believe that there is more harm in not having a building because of how they provide convenience for gathering, a social identity for the people, and a position of prominence in the community. While it could easily be argued that these are not truly beneficial, but detrimental, there are two other main problems with church buildings and how they hinder the church’s mission.

First, buildings bind the church with financial burdens. The biggest two expenses in most church budges are pastoral salaries and mortgage payments. Imagine how much money could be freed up for local and global missions if one (or both) of these budget items disappeared? A gathering of believers must ask themselves if a mortgage payment every month—whether it is $500 or $5,000—could accomplish more if put toward helping the poor and sick in the community.

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In the days of Jesus, the Jewish people believed in a form of incarnation. They did not believe that God could become a man, but that heaven and earth connected at the Temple in Jerusalem. God, for the Jewish person, dwelled in some sense in the temple. The temple was seen as the central incarnational symbol of Jewish life.

The Incarnation of the Temple

This is one of the primary reasons that the teachings and actions of Jesus were so controversial. In many different ways and at many different times, Jesus indicated that He was the new temple; that in Him people could receive forgiveness from sins, access to God, and restoration from exile. When people believe that God is in the temple, imagine what a shock it would have been for Jesus to announce that the Temple would be destroyed (John 2:19-21).

But as shocking as it was to predict the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, John indicates that Jesus was actually talking about His own body! We tend to think that this would soften the blow of such words for Jewish people at the time, but the opposite is actually true.

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How did the church go from no land or property at the resurrection of Jesus, to one of the wealthiest land-owners in the entire world today? As we have summarized previously here and here), a lot of it had to do with the rise to prominence from a persecuted religion in the Roman Empire, to the time when Emperor Theodosius declared Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire in 380 AD.

In a culture where there was no distinction between religion and politics, such a declaration had far-reaching effects. People as far away as Germania (Germany) and Britannia (Great Britain), who knew next to nothing about Christianity, were told that the Empire was now Christian, and it would be prudent for them to convert.
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The early church had few buildings. When they did construct them, they were often patterned after the Jewish Synagogues, since Christianity was originally an offshoot of Judaism. But due to intense persecution from Jewish leaders and the influx of Gentile believers, the early Christians generally owned few church buildings or places for gathering.

Over the next couple hundred years, the Roman Empire began persecuting Christians as well. Christians were viewed as bad citizens of Rome because they did not swear loyalty to the Emperor or participate in pagan temple rituals. In a culture where there is no distinction between religion and politics, those who do not follow the religion of the Empire are political threats to the Empire. This is crucial for understanding the importance of what happened in the fourth century under three different Emperors.

Emperor Constantine

In 312 A.D., as Emperor Constantine was preparing his troops for the Battle at Milvian Bridge, he saw a vision in the sky of a cross of light and the words, “In this sign, conquer!” So he had all the soldiers paint a Christian symbol (the Greek Chi-Rho) on their shields, after which time, they soundly defeated their enemy. After this, Constantine had himself baptized as a Christian and in 313 A.D., issued the Edict of Milan which essentially ceased all persecution against Christians and named himself as the patron of Christianity. Christianity became a “legal” religion in the Empire.
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