Is Multi-million Naira Church Needed To Serve God?

There seems to be a competition between churches, some building churches with billions of naira, some hundreds of millions of naira, is that what serving God all about, do we need all need to worship God?

Even the Mosque, I thought a place of worship is just to house us and the instrument while we praise and worship God, why do we have to spend such money, when some of the people that donate to the church are still living in a face me face you units?

Here is what Acts 17;24-34 says.
 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, 25 neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 26 and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27 that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: 28 for in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. 30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31 because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. 33 So Paul departed from among them. 34 Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed:


The summary of it all. God needs a beautiful heart more than a beautiful church.

A.Wenger:

The summary of it all. God needs a beautiful heart more than a beautiful church.

Lol, I feel you. But shouldn't that be: "God needs a beautiful heart more than a beautiful cathedral"? Remember that the Church is actually His people (Eph. 5:25) and He's looking to present the Church unto Himself without spot (Eph. 5:27).

so why are all these churches building huge cathedral all in da name of serving God, and if the church folds up, who owns the building aand the properties?

Lol, the truth about such issues always emerges when people have differences to settle.

They cry when the churches get burnt because, they ave been building walls and not people. I wonder. Many still come in and go out empty in this multi**** naira buildings. Remember that temple built with gold and inside were doves, sheeps, robbers, sellers and all sorts. And sincerely the pharisees were still adoring the building not minding what lies within the walls.The same we see today. May Jesus Christ do the same to us all in this our world and much more as he did on his arrival to Jerusalem that day.
May he come with a whip today and much more send out the robber (from our hearts) that holds us hostage, that we may be what he wants of a GLORIOUS CHURCH. We need to define them anyway CHURCH OR MOTIVATIONAL CENTRES? PASTORS OR MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKERS (Orators)

Aladunni:

They cry when the churches get burnt because, they ave been building walls and not people. I wonder.

Lol. . . that simply takes the cake!

so would it be safe then to say that christianity is becoming more of buz and no more about serving and caring for the people?

$$Rhino:

so would it be safe then to say that christianity is becoming more of buz and no more about serving and caring for the people?

Christianity does not change from what it has been revealed to be, as given in the WORD of God. The problem is that we as professing Christians have introduced so many elements into it and given those new things some fashionable names to make them more acceptable.

so here is my question, if the pastor and the elders today say, the church is no more in operation, and that the church is packing up, who will own all they have, like the building, the cars, the van, the electronics and all that and even the land where the church is built?

Good question - and I think that Aladunni has summarized so well for me, at least, in this line:

Aladunni:

They cry when the churches get burnt because, they ave been building walls and not people. I wonder.

How true. If the ministry is set on "things", when they got what they set out to achieve (whether it's property of some sort or something else), then they could boldy announce that the "church" is closing business for that fiscal period.

However, we know there are ministries that have faced very trying times and come through shining and standing strong - because they set their hearts on God who builds His people, rather than setting their hearts on things that people go after.

avent answer the question, would the properties belong to the pastor and all the members and the elders of the church walk away with nothing while the pastor cld sell all the propeties and start to live large, as a multi-millionaire

$$Rhino:

avent answer the question,

Oh, I get what you mean. Let's see again::

$$Rhino:

would the properties belong to the pastor and all the members and the elders of the church walk away with nothing while the pastor cld sell all the propeties and start to live large, as a multi-millionaire

I wouldn't be in the best position to arbitrate on issues like that. In the first place, it is morally wrong for people to plant churches on the basis of acquiring property. If some people feel that they could no longer cope with the ministry in the Church, they could go on their own and do as they please.

But, of course, being human, a lot of fights will break out - on just one issue: who owns the property? Actually, I've seen this ugly incident happen a few times, not because churches were closing; but rather because they were splitting over issues of leadership. The fight was uglier with the question of who owns what. Me, I simply waka my own, as I do not see my donations as made to man.

People will always fight over property - always so will be the case where they are seeking things instead of God. I hope this helps clarify what I meant?

The age old excuse is "Solomon built a magnificient temple for the Lord and God's presence came down so we have to emulate him and God will come down, "

it sells bc Nigerians really need God to come down since we don't want to help ourselves. I personally think it is an ego thing much like the wealthy businessmen in the west fight over who has the longest yacht. So also our larger than life men of GOd have chosen to fight over who has the largest and loveliest building not minding the hopeless situation of their flock.

It is really sickening the way they go about broadcasting their ''begged'' wealth which the congregation can only listen to in awe. _{i just took a little deviation}

My opinion build what is necessary to accomodate the crowd and concentrate on the hearts of the flock

The larger your church, the larger your congregation.
The larger your congregation, the more offerings you can collect.
The more expensive your edifice, the more money you can collect per member.

Seun:

The larger your church, the larger your congregation.
The larger your congregation, the more offerings you can collect.
The more expensive your edifice, the more money you can collect per member.

@ Seun

Bad Boy

Personally, I don't think it is necessary.

guys, tread softly.


cheers

@Poster
The title reminded me of a 2Pac interview some time way back. The snippets are below:

If the churches took half the money that they was making and gave it back to the community, we'd be alright. If they took half the buildings that they use to "praise God" and gave it to motherfuckers who really need God, we'd be alright. Have you seen some of these god damn churches lately? There's one's that take up the whole block in New York. There's homeless people out here. Why ain't the church lettin' them stay there? Why these niggas got gold ceilings and shit? Why God need gold ceilings to talk to me? Why does God need colored windows to talk to me? Why God can't come where I'm at where he sent me? If God wanted to talk to me in a pretty spot like that, why the hell he send me here then (reference to the ghetto)


I don't necessarily share Pac's views on religion but i'm inclined to agree with him on this.

God must be frowning upon it all, surely!

Why don't they use the money and feed the hungry instead of builing churches so high in the clouds. Are they trying to get to heaven before the rest of us or what?!

Gosh---the interior decoration is something else! If people could rob the church (not the collections!) I reckon they'd be millionaires.

The end of that interview made me laugh.

But it's true though.

God must be frowning upon it all, surely!

God did not frown when Solomon decided to build him a temple. Didn't the world have poor people then?

$Rhino

if the resources are there why not build a befitting house for the lord? What did David do in bible times? Built a befitting house for the lord for worship - noone criticised like we do these days. Leaving a very austere life is not an indication that u r holy or are truly serving God.

expensive church buildings? Its all relative if you ask me, what exactly do you regard as 'expensive'?

how much do you think is sufficient to build an edifice that will be around for 50+ years? (Some church buildings are even over 200 yrs old)

What kind of homes are the members of the church living in? Do the individuals subscribe to a certain standard in all that they do?

The usual excuse of 'the church pastor and co are chopping money' is not sufficient, afterall, the pastor doesn't live in the church auditorium does he?

Like has been said earlier, if the focus is on the building rather than building up the people, then I agree it is wrong.

Nevertheless, doing things excellently and giving your best to God is something I believe in. Ostentation is not right, but if you are doing something of quality to the glory of God, without neglecting to take care of the less privileged, then it is in order.

The bible shows that God was happy with it yes-but then again, I don't believe EVERYTHING I read in the bible. For it to have happened in those days and still carry on now, it remains SO WRONG in my book.

expensive churches are not a necessity even the pastors know it but i dont think its an issue to be tabled,

let the church members of the expensive churches decide this, cos i personaly believe the church members were not coaxed to build something expensive, its becos they believe they could do it and the want conducive and comfortable places of worship
at least devilish places of worship are attractive and people rush in there so why cant the original beat the fake to it
please lets watch our comments about Godly things and about Men of God cos God holds them in high esteem so dont let him smite u becos of ur words concerning them
meanwhile u need to know that if the churches have not beign supporting the poor then the suitation will be very unbearable for the poor, cos hardly is there any big church i know of that does not have a charity home and an orphange with missions that go into the interiors and villages to share the gospel and share food and clothings.
well, concerning who owns the place when he dies i think u need to ask a church like Ben Idahosa's church who owns it now since the MOG is dead.
wait to see what the church will turn out to be soon cos the bible says he is not coming for the defeated church but for the glorious church and i think one of the ways u can see the glory of God through his children is through such places u call expensive. the hands that have built expensive churches am sure will all have testimonies to back up thier giving towards it and how they have been blessed thru such givings

ow11, the time of solomon, i could understand, cos he has the money to build on his own, he never had to beg the congregation for the money, he never had to do a building fund and in da time of solomon, he doesnt have to preach and preach till the member of his church feel bad and use their monthly rent to pay for the building of a church, so the difference is clear.
All i am saying is that why do we have to inconvinient pple all in da name of trying to compete with the chuch down the street? and when u go to this churches, most of the members are not realy well to do, and if they go to the church and seek for help, they wont help them, all in da name that pple has to pass thru fire to get to glory, honestly, i am lost and just dont get it.

It's the pastors who are to blame. It's just a quick way of making money cos when they do these building funds, not all the money gathered goes to decorating and what not. There's always some left on the side for a brand new car.

@ Labiyemi, there is nothing wrong if the resources are there, but most of the time, the resources aint realy there, have u ever been to a building fund event, where pple have to pledge and all that? my guy if you ever been to one, yu will open your mouth, the more money u donate, the better the prayer that the pastor will send your way, and yet we read in the bible about the widow, so that means someone cld ut down like N5K and that could be all he or she has and someone cld donate like 100K out of his 100M, who deserves the blessing more?
If they can afford it, that is nice, however, most cant and they make pple to break the bank

Seun, i am so much feeling you, and i have no prob with pple building huge building for God, but shuld it be at the expense of the people?

I don't get these people who keep pledging when they can't afford to buy nice things for themselves.

kaypinchi, i so much agree wth you, it is now about the business, cos the pastors know that pple will wanna come to the best looking church and like Seun said, the better the church, the more the pple and the more money they can make, so where is God in all these, how is God been worshipped, when there are still more pple on da street that are dy9ng daily of hunger, why would you wanna spend Billions of naira to build a church when some kids cant even afford to drink gari of 5N in the morning.

Kellorah, i cant blame some of them at all, cos by the time, the pastor with a nice sweet mouth, tell you about all the solomon's blessings and how God blessed the widow and all that, you will pledge too, cos you want the abraham blessings, and there is nothing wrong in donating to the church and her need, but shuldnt the church be willing to help as well, and do thing when it is convinient and not just cos they think it is time to do it?