No House in Eden

We were having a fellowship with a minister friend when he wondered why it is that God did not build Adam and Eve a house in Eden and we got to discussing about it.

Do you know that a house is a limitation? Though it may keep you safe from the elements and danger, do you also realize that those walls could be a prison for you?

Do you realize that the first act of defiance by man was when they sought to build a tower? And why was that so? They sought to limit their bounds when God had given a release.

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:28)

A house in Eden could have meant that their exploration and utilization of the garden could have been limited to only a day’s return journey. This could not have amounted to more than five hours walk one way which at a normal walking speed could have not been more than 30 km. And we are told that it encompassed all the land from Sudan to Syria.

I think it is the concept of a house (residence) that led the first couple to the fall because they stayed in close proximity to the forbidden tree since it was in the middle of the garden, until they became enthralled by its beauty and attractiveness. Had they decided to feast on the bounty that was in the whole garden it could have been years before they came to the same fruit tree or region again.

Look also at Babel.

And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. (Genesis 11:4)

The purpose of that tower went directly against God’s order to fill the earth. They sought to gather when God’s order was to scatter.

But do you realize that the church has resorted to the same strategy to counter the Great Commission? We are seeking to build houses instead of living in booths in our spiritual pilgrimage. We want to gather instead of scatter. We seek to be gated when God calls on us to live in tents. We seek to maintain and expand our house to contain our children instead of releasing and helping them to build theirs.

What do we understand by the Great Commission? Does it mean building a mega church in each community? Does it not rather mean that we take the Gospel and discipleship to every nook and cranny of the world so that everyone will hear the Gospel not through the media but in their own context?

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15)

Do you realize that the church building could be the greatest obstacle to world evangelization?

Why do I say that? How much money is wasted building gigantic structures compared to the trickle that goes to supporting outreach to unreached people groups? How much money is spent broadcasting motivation instead of meeting the desperate needs of the jobless in our congregation for example? How much do we spend doing activities that increase the visibility of our house instead of reaching out with Christ’s love to an orphaned or widowed family next to that church building?

We are building towers instead of tilling the garden. No wonder we are having issues dealing with sin and abomination because we want our house to accommodate the whole world. As such we are competing with how big our house is in comparison to other houses. We are celebrating the fact that we are having the most people in a single service instead of the impact our preaching is having on our immediate context.

But the saddest part of it is that in our pursuit of building that house we have overlooked what the Bible calls ministry. We proudly overlook the starving so that we can build that huge monument. We forget the teaching and pastoral ministry to reach out to those masses through TV and online presence forgetting that God will not use the masses to judge us.

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it [or did it not] unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Matthew 25: 40, [45])

In short it is that one you ministered to or overlooked that will be the basis of Christ’s judgment on the last day. What you built or did not build will not even be mentioned.

That we love buildings is not in doubt. Do you realize that God never indicated that He wanted a temple built for Him? He agreed to the building when David’s overflow of worship desired it. And He did not peg His worship to it, even threatening and finally destroying that house because it had become transformed into an object of worship instead of an accessory.

Do you also realize that the bigger the house the less the fellowship (leave alone ministry) occurring in it? We will build gigantic houses of worship that will swallow our individuality and personhood in the masses congregated there. Again as someone who has ministered in big as well as small churches I can say with some authority that it is in a small church that growth occurs because there is nowhere to hide. It is in a small church that sin can be confronted and dealt with because there is enough love flowing around to challenge someone to change.

A big church is not much different from a TV church because most people will see the preacher on a screen, unless they carried binoculars. The only difference is that an offering basket gets to you instead of needing to send your offering through other means.

I have met enough people who have attended a church for years going through a tragedy or crisis alone even after notifying the pastoral leadership because they are for the most part not much different from the woodwork. In other words nobody in the leadership has any idea they exist or are even members. And it is understandable, unless you are the one with the crisis. The house has killed the church.

It is sad that the money some churches pay for electricity to maintain those structures can educate enough teachers to start and maintain a whole school in a needy unreached community. Yet that electricity may do nothing beneficial to mission work.

When the church in Acts became comfortable enough to probably consider building structures to contain the growth that was occurring in it, God sent persecution to scatter them. And they were more effective on the run than in a house because at least they would need to explain why they were running.

Should we require persecution to take the Gospel to the ends of the world or will we hide in those houses of wickedness to avoid persecution? And why do I call them houses of wickedness? I am yet to see a big house that speaks unflinchingly against sin. I am yet to see a huge house that will confront an important giver or potential giver (in terms of amounts) for a life that is inconsistent with the Gospel.

The house has become a prison. Since we need money to maintain it at the best levels, the one who gives the most is the most valuable member of the house (we are not even ashamed to call it a church) whether or not he believes what we confess. That is why a pastor will cancel an appointment at no notice of a very spiritual member he needed to see when a tycoon with a huge car is in a hurry to see him. That is why we preach irreverent and irrelevant messages to maintain a grip on all these givers without caring to know whether they are on the way to heaven or hell.

This prison we call a church building is not much different from an actual prison. The first thing is that each is concerned with statistics; how many and how much. We are more concerned with how many we can hold instead of how many we are showing the way to heaven. We are more concerned with how much we are receiving instead of how many are giving out of the abundance of their hearts because they have a very alive relationship with God.

The second reason is that someone stands out by impressing the bosses, whatever means they use. Cases abound of prisoners who ‘changed’ enough so that they were paroled, and then they resumed their former crimes. Others were given oversight over other prisoners, until they got to a place where they could disappear. And the mega church is not much different. There are enough people who come there to hide their wicked lifestyles. I read in a newspaper someone saying that the church is the most dangerous place to look for a spouse. And why did he say that? He attended a church and found that a known prostitute was a very prominent leader in that church. I also remember two friends confessing to being confronted of being in a singing group that was led by a prostitute. And the people making the allegations were ready to foot the bill to take these friends to see their leader at her business at a day of their choice. We have elders and deacons running bars and others having concubines yet they remain in leadership because they keep the boss (pastor) happy.

Third is that the prisons were not really meant to be punitive but restorative. Yet the numbers trash that noble goal. I suspect none of the pastors (apart from the common swindlers) started the mega church planning to water down the Gospel with motivation to keep the people coming and giving. And the needs that come with the huge buildings and congregations easily overshadow the clear vision the pastors had when the new dynamic takes over.

I want to leave this post open ended. And it is with a purpose. I want you to examine your doctrine of the church. Then look at the Great Commission.

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28: 19, 20)