…that is the question.
In the processes of selling our facility, questions have arisen on who and who not to sell it to. Would we sell to a group that differs with us in doctrine? Would we sell to an investor to build condos? Would we sell to those who are affirming of the LGBTQ+ agenda? Would we sell to Jews? or to Muslims? Of course, we all agree that our preference is to sell our facility to another group similar to ours that will use it to continue to advance of the gospel. Yet we all know how few faithful churches there are in our city and the few we know are not in a position to purchase our current facility. Which raises another question of priority. If we do not find a faithful church to purchase our facility, would we forgo moving to a larger facility and remain where we are? How do we navigate such an issue faithfully?
While our preference has been to sell to a likeminded church, we’ve never ruled out the possibility of selling our facility to other groups. When our preference cannot be met, here are a short list of reasons why we can sell our facility to other non-Christians groups (and should sell given the right offer).
- The church is not the building. This oft-repeated phrase seeks to capture an important biblical truth. The church is the people of God, converted from darkness to light, united with the Lord Jesus Christ, and joined together as a family of faith to be a holy people devoted to the Lord in worship and truth. Whether gathering in homes, the catacombs, in a field, or in a building built for the church, the church is the people and not the building.[1] As such, buildings don’t apostatize nor are converted or de-converted. Our battle is not against flesh and blood nor buildings and land. The kingdom of God is where the gospel is believed and Christ’s rule obeyed.[2]
- The investment into the kingdom continues. The investment made into our building through donations, work days, maintenance, and so forth will still be used for the kingdom of God as it transfers from hard assets to liquid assets that will help fund a larger facility to advance the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We simply could not move to a new facility if it was not for the efforts of past generations. Part of this effort is represented in the equity of our current facility.
- Our battle is more offensive than defensive. The spiritual battle continues in our city regardless of locations or land. In our city there are numerous groups vying to win the battle of truth. From LGBTQ+ activists, to Muslims, to Reformed Christians, we are all here seeking to advance a cause. Of course we know that Christ will win and we should pursue what is best for his cause. However, we cannot be overly concerned with what others are doing and seek to thwart them and hinder our task. We are not playing a defensive battle, but an offensive one. If we are better able to gather as one body, proclaim the gospel, and advance the cause of Christ then we should take that opportunity. That is, moving into a new facility to advance the gospel is a higher priority that stopping someone from operating in our current facility. The enemy will continue to promote his lies in this city and so we must better position ourselves to be heralds of the truth.[3]
- The health of the body is paramount. As elders, our concern is for the family of faith at Fairview Baptist Church. The move is not precipitated by the extra work of two services. Rather, the central concern is our divided body. With our current space there is a lack of fellowship which hinders us more than most understand. With extended times of weekly fellowship we see opportunities for service, discipleship, encouragement, counsel, and imitation. Our worship is spiritual warfare. Our fellowship is spiritual warfare. We’ve been divided and the body is suffering as we’re hindered from practicing the one-another’s or the body to minister effectively. In the end, we’re making this move with the health of the body in mind. As a consequence, if our church is healthy, we will be a sharp instrument in the hand of our Lord to shine forth the power and goodness of the gospel of Jesus Christ!
Natural Objections and Questions
1. Would the LORD be pleased with this sale to an Islamic group?
I agree that in isolation, giving money to the United Church and taking money from a Muslim group in exchange for our building doesn’t seem to bring God honor. How can it? In the same regard, in isolation, David living in Ziklag and making peace with a Philistine king doesn’t seem to bring God honor either. But considering the big picture we can see many times that the Lord uses his enemies to accomplish his purposes (David in Ziklag, Joseph in Egypt, the Pharaoh in the Exodus, Jews with Jesus, etc). God can get glory (and has) from the wicked even though they do not intend it. Can God not get glory by funding the gospel by taking money from Muslims?
Some have suggested another way that God is getting glory. Some believe that the Lord is moving us out of the community of Fairview and letting the darkness come in as a judgment. Certainly the Lord can do that and it would bring him glory, but do we really know that? We don’t know the mind of the Lord, hence the difficulty and the call for wisdom.
We do have examples in the NT on how to interact with false religions as Christians. To be certain we have no partnership or fellowship together. Yet we do see Paul argue in 1 Corinthians 8 that idols are nothing and that being in a temple and eating food offered to idols is nothing. Not all could do that without violating their conscience and so Paul exhorts those who eat in idol’s temples to be mindful of their brothers and sisters so that they don’t stumble. Then in 1 Corinthians 10:23ff Paul speaks about being invited over for dinner and eating food offered to idols. He argues that you can eat food from the meat market (v. 25) and partake in homes food offered to idols with thankfulness (v. 30). Paul argues that we can eat or drink (food offered to idols) to the glory of God (v. 31), while seeking not to give offense to others (v. 32), and fleeing from actual idolatry (v. 14). So in the first century church it was possible to eat in temples, eat food offered to idols and give thanks and glory to God while not engaging in idolatry or being partners with darkness.
The biggest concern in the first century and in my mind with this transaction is the conscience of my brothers and sisters. Please know that we were ready to walk away from this deal for the sake of the brothers and sisters in the church we knew would not be pleased. In the end we felt it best to move forward with what we’re convinced is best for the entire body, would advance the gospel and bring glory to Christ. The vote and how the rest of the process goes will be a confirmation in our mind of the Lord’s working through this (the Lord did thwart the last deal).
2. Buildings are set apart for a special use. This facility once was dedicated to worshiping the Lord will now be dedicated for the worship of idols. Such things should not be!
This is true. But it doesn’t tell the whole story.
We regard moving into the United Church a success for the gospel of the kingdom. This is due to the fact that we are moving into their old facility because they have shrunk and their influence continues to wane.
It would be totally different if we were moving into the United Church because they were flourishing and expanding to a new and larger location. We wouldn’t regard the move as a “victory” for the gospel.
The same is true for our current facility. We’re moving on because Christ is building his church. Another group is moving in because we’ve outgrown the space as the gospel is bearing fruit. The whole story is one of advance of God’s kingdom, not retreat or decline.
3. If we sell to a group like the Muslims, we’re aiding their cause.
In some respects this is true. However we don’t see Paul using this reasoning in 1 Corinthians 8 and 10 as Christians were eating food offered to idols in the temples. Rather, he argued that it was a matter of conscience.
This objection is also unlikely to prevent any of us from selling our house to a Muslim family even if the man of the house was an Imam who preached every Friday at a mosque. Why? Because they are funding our move and helping our cause! The same is true in this regard. When they purchase our current facility, they are funding the gospel advance and aiding the cause of Christ.
4. The community of Fairview is left without a gospel witness.
It was common in years past for churches to be community churches or have a parish model. Members would go to the closest church, often walking. We still see this today among the Roman Catholic Church and the United Church. The church at Fairview has not been this way for a number of years. People drive from all over. While we have focused on local evangelism, most understand our missionfield to be Calgary as a city (along with the surrounding area) rather than just the community of Fairview. Our light is certainly moving away from the community of Fairview but we’re moving so that our light can shine brighter and the church can thrive as a family after been hindered from fellowship in the past few years.
Wherever you are reading this, you are a light on your street and in your neighborhood. If you decided to move because your family was growing, your street would be losing a gospel light. However, I don’t believe this is sufficient to argue that you must remain or sell your home to other believers to continue the work you are doing among your neighbors. Your greater concern is for your family. In a similar way, I see my role of shepherd caring for the health of the flock as a higher priority than ensuring a light remains in close proximity to the community of Fairview. (I still believe we can be a light and continue to call people in Fairview to repentance and faith and come and worship with us from a new location.)
In addition, the communities of Tuxedo and Highland Park have been without a clear gospel witness for a long time. Our goal of seeing the city of Calgary love Christ still continues in earnest.[4]
5. We should walk by faith and not by sight and wait for the Lord to provide something better.
We all want to walk by faith and we all acknowledge that his ways are sometimes (many times?) beyond our understanding (Isaiah 55:8). We have clear revelation in his word to guide us with clarity but there are some decisions that do not have the clear light of Scripture to instruct us plainly. In my understanding of Scripture, I do not see selling our building to Muslims as sinful. But is it God’s will? That’s harder to answer and calls for wisdom and prayer.
What I do know is that the Lord has been so faithful (even through my weakness and failings as a leader). He has built his church at Fairview. Some have come to know the Lord, many have been strengthened and equipped in the faith, and the gospel has gone out in ways inconceivable to me. The Lord removed all my personal charges and in many respects vindicated our choice to remain open (even as many Christians accused us of being unfaithful and bringing dishonor to God.) The building process has been a rollercoaster ride with God closing many doors, our efforts exhausted on many occasions, and then providentially providing Northminster as a possible home for his church. When the first offer for our building fell apart, we understood this to be of the Lord. We assumed that he was doing what was best according to His plan. We don’t fully understand but trust him to lead in this process. He has led us this far, he will provide for his people.
Then this offer came in (with no other offers from Christian groups). Has the Lord led us this far by leading and guiding to now bring this offer to test us? Is this offer his provision (where his way is not our way) or is this offer a test of our faithfulness? Is he trying to say that moving is not his will? Have we asked for bread and he given us a stone that we’re not supposed to recognizes as a stone lest we bite it and break our teeth? Is this what the Lord is doing?
As we’ve prayed about it, sought counsel with those outside and inside the church, we’ve wrestled to understand the Lord’s will. We’ve considered what he may be doing and how we should be leading. In the end, we understand the Lord is with us yet we don’t understand why this group is there to purchase our building. Is it to take their money, given to push a false religion, to now fund gospel ministry? Is it a judgment upon our city or community? Is it a reflection of the spiritual battle already going on in our city and this shuffling of the chairs will put us in a better position for the battle? Is it to push the antithesis between darkness and light because many churches are just shades of grey? We don’t know. But we’re ready to prayerfully move forward trusting the Lord’s providential leading. God can work through the congregation to stop this. He can work through the inspection to stop this. He can work through their financing to stop this (like last time). May he be merciful and faithful to us even if we are being unfaithful here. We all desperately want his will to be done!
Conclusion
The elders have taken time to pray, seek counsel, and wait for some direction as to how to proceed. We are in agreement that this is best for our church and fully support moving forward in this direction for the reasons cited above. The decision is not easy but we trust that the Lord will lead and guide his people.
[1] It is true that Scripture does refer to the church as a “building” in Ephesians 2 and 1 Peter 2. But in those passages it refers to the spiritual temple where we are living stones built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone. The church is also described as Christ’s body—with him as head—and Christ’s bride—with him as groom. In all these metaphors the church is not a building, not brick or mortar, but people made holy by the blood of the Lamb gathered together in unity around Christ and the gospel.
[2] Still, it can be disheartening to walk into a building that was clearly a church but is now a store or temple of false religion. While this doesn’t tell the whole story (maybe the church flourished and outgrew this facility), the optics can be saddening. In our case, the current architecture of our facility is not “churchy.” Without steeples, vaulted ceilings, archways, or stained glass it doesn’t provide the optics that a church has closed and another religious group has stepped in.
[3] It’s important to note that gathering as one body is not to ease the burden of running two services. Our worship is warfare and gathering as one advances the cause of Christ. The fellowship, unity, and care of the body is greatly hindered by being divided. Many do not know the familial nature of the church that spends the Lord’s Day together in worship and fellowship. It is important that we heal the division that has occurred in the body over the last few years due to space constraints.
[4] It should be noted that compromised “Christian” groups can push people away from the gospel and harden them to the true gospel. We believe in the importance of the clarity of the gospel rather than the compromised message of Worldly Wiseman mixed in. It can be better to have an antithesis to the gospel rather than a dangerous look-a-like that leads many to a false sense of salvation (see 2 Peter 2). It is not hard to see that many false churches are hardening people from the true gospel. They may preach the Bible (in part) yet do great damage to the kingdom of God. Wolves in sheep’s clothing are more dangerous to the flock than wolves without the façade.