When Luke wrote in Acts 2 that “the Lord added to the church daily those that would be saved,” he wasn’t talking about a building.
Those early Christians worshipping in the catacombs and quietly in homes were the church.
Our obsession with brick and mortar is pure materialism. The bride of Christ isn’t made by human hands, and, as Paul told the Athenians, the “God that made the world and all things therein. . . dwelleth not in temples made with hands.” (Acts. 17:24)
The idea that God doesn’t care about the building in which we worship is stupid. He does care. He expects our very best in everything, including our liturgy and architecture. Why do you think he gave Moses that long list of instructions on building His tabernacle — a list that covered everything down to the tassels on the curtains? After all, any old tent would have done just as well! The more miminalist, the better! No bronze seas or gigantic golden candelabras — just the Lord an’ Me!
Pathetic. The churches in which we worship should be as glorious as we can make them. Notice that I said glorious — I’m not talking about human-centered crap like “family life centers”, dining halls, basketball courts, swimming pools, 12-piece electrified “praise orchestras”, and the like. I mean they should be entirely focused on glorifying God, places full of exquisite statues, gilt, gold, lamps, stained glass, terazzo, hand-laid parquetry, marble altars, incense, ikons, and sumptuous architectural details. Those steel-building “Church in the Shed” places, with their indoor-outdoor carpeting, folding steel chairs, and audio/video systems are an embarrassment to the Christian faith.