Is Martin Luther Forgotten?

I just finished watching the film "luther" the biographical story of Martin Luther who began his ecumenical life as a Roman monk and ended it as the catalyst used by God to break apart the tyranny of organized religion in the 15th century and to open the door of the gospel to every man, woman and child, first in Germany and then throughout the world.

What I couldn't get out of my mind is how similar the church today seemed to the Roman church in Luther's day. In the 15th century, Pope Leo and the Roman church sold indulgences - the offering of salvation for one's relatives suffering in purgatory; all for the price of a few pennies. For a bit more, one could save several family members or even one's long dead evil friend. Pope Leo took this a step further when he offered salvation for monies given to build St. Peter's Basilica.

Today in any major city are gigantic buildings dedicated to the memory of men, built upon the few pennies of the faithful, with the promise of rewards for those who give freely. These buildings are mistakenly called churches. Not that in some of them, perhaps even many, people are worshipping the One, true, God, it's just that the word we translate church never once applies to a building in sacred scripture.

For hundreds of years in America and certainly with much aplomb and grandeur in the 20th century, Americans have built great buildings to God, each one bigger and brighter than the next. Pass by the former Compaq center in Houston and one now sees "Lakewood Church" in all it's newly remodeled glory, with its benefactor in clear, orange letters "Joel Osteen - Pastor" emblazoned for everyone to see. It isn't hard to find one of these monuments to man, they are in nearly every city, whether one is in Houston, or Atlanta, California or Arkansas - these temples of man are increasing in number and grandeur.

Now wait a minute, some are now saying, "You've gone too far; My church is built out of the desires of the people to honor God and after all shouldn't He have a grand house to live in? "

Did you undergo a "building campaign" to build this magnificent house for God? What were you promised if you freely gave? Or perhaps you were told that "The Lord loves a cheerful giver" while you were made to feel guilty for not supporting the campaign, while the rest of the church kicked in.

What might God say about this? In Isaiah 66:1-3 states, "This is what the Lord says, Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. Could you ever build me a temple as good as that? Could you build a dwelling place for me? My hands have made both heaven and earth and they are mine. I, the Lord have spoken! I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts, who tremble at my word. But those who choose their own ways, delighting in their sins, are cursed. Their offerings will not be accepted, when such people sacrifice an ox, it is no more acceptable than a human sacrifice."

Am I saying it is wrong to build a church? No. But we need to stop kidding ourselves, that the temples we are building for the glory of men are built to serve God. How does burdening people to give money to build something that will burn up one day, honor God? And if you think I have just had too much coffee today, consider this: People who come to the church for help, frequently bring up the fact that "I tithe to the church", as if this entitles them to some special consideration. They are convinced they have stored up for themselves treasures - an indeed they have. Where do they get this idea? From the church! They aren't getting the idea from cereal boxes.

Drive by a Mega church this week. Whose name is on the outside? Is Jesus mentioned anywhere? The very odd thing is - if you drive by a Mormon temple, His name will be prominently displayed.

What do we do? I propose we stop pretending we are glorifying God by building structures for the glory of man. People can worship God under a tent, in a warehouse and in the mall. There are more than enough empty buildings for you to put your church and you'd be doing both the landlord and the local business community a favor. Some might say, "Isn't that what Lakewood did, by renting and remodeling the Compaq center?" Well, did the 90+ million they spent to remodel it and the millions in lease payments they will spend, have any eternal significance? Will anyone get into heaven because of the shiny, new building? Whose name is on the building?

I would very seriously like for you to consider the following question - don't play games with your own mind; consider it truthfully. Picture the follwing person coming to your church - dark skin, thick, black hair, long nose, a fairly well trimmed beard and worn hands. Being poor, and not having bathed in many days, he would stink. His clothes have holes from wear, his shoes also would be worn or perhaps broken. What would happen? At my church, a "campus alert" would be issued in case he were a robber. He would be encouraged to visit our benevolence center - several miles away from our church, at a safe distance. If he asked for water, he might get it, but he would certainly recieve some strange looks and wouldn't be encouraged to sit on our very plush furniture.

The person described above would not be very welcomed at our church - and I suspect at many buildings in our country which are incorrectly named after a group of believers who are to gether to worship Christ, fellowship together and bear one another's burdens. Sadly, the description above is probably a fairly accurate description of a first-century Galileen, who is named Jesus. Jesus said "a prophet is not without honor except in his own country." The people of Jesus own hometown rejected Him. Would the "church" do the same today?