Why Church Buildings Matter

Watching the spire of the cathedral of Notre Dame fall in flames was an eerie reminder of a similar event that occurred at Historic Trinity Lutheran Church in Milwaukee less than a year ago.  It is heartbreaking and distressing to see these things happening in real time.  It is frustrating that in both cases the cause of the quickly spreading fire appears to be accidental/negligent renovation work.  It is tragic when such significant architectural and artistic history is damaged or lost.

               In response to a catastrophe such as this, a common refrain that is heard is that the Church is not a building, it is the people of God, believers in Christ Jesus the Savior.  And this is most certainly true.  The hymn says it well, “Built on the Rock the church shall stand, even when steeples are falling” (LSB 645).  The church is not dependent on buildings but on Christ the crucified.  His Gospel rightly preached and His Sacraments rightly administered are what create faith in His people, bringing them forgiveness, life, and salvation, making them to be His Church, “built for His own habitation.”

                But that is precisely what makes the building important.  Christianity is not a free-floating spirituality.  It’s not just about faith in my heart.  It’s about the external Word of Christ being proclaimed from the pulpit.  It’s about children and adults being baptized at the font.  It’s about the body and blood of Christ being distributed from the altar.  A later stanza of “Built on the Rock” twice uses the word “here” to emphasize the importance of place for the faith:

                “Here stands the font before our eyes,

                Telling how God has received us.

                Th’ altar recalls Christ’s sacrifice

                And what His Supper here gives us.

                Here sound the Scriptures that proclaim

                Christ yesterday, today, the same,

                And evermore, our Redeemer.”

                This ministry of Christ can take place in simple house churches or in grand cathedrals.  But Christians have always had set-apart and sacred places to gather to receive the Lord’s gifts.  For the omnipresent God whom we worship has chosen to make Himself present and locatable for us.  “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”  Jesus died and rose again in the flesh to redeem us.  And He continues to come to us in external and material ways.

This is why the church building matters, because Christianity isn’t merely an individualistic and private matter of the soul.  It is about the redemption of our bodies (Romans 8:23) in Christ who shared fully in our humanity.  It is about the congregation of believers physically gathered around His preaching and His sacraments.  The church building is the place where that ordinarily happens, a space sanctified by the Word of God and prayer (1 Timothy 4:5). 

                And so even though most Christians know very well that the Church is not a building but the body of Christ, we still feel a deep connection to our places of worship and are profoundly affected when church buildings are vandalized or damaged or destroyed.  The Christian faith is grounded in God’s good creation and in the redemption of creation worked by Christ.  We rejoice when the beauty of God’s saving Word is reflected in a Church’s physical architecture and art.  And we grieve as ones reminded of the curse of the fall when these things are ruined. 

It is unclear when or even if Notre Dame will be rebuilt and restored.   I suspect it will, although I’m sure many will wonder why, considering that European and French culture has mostly drifted away from Christianity.  I hope that many Christians will gather at the ashes outside Notre Dame during this Holy Week to worship the one true God, the blessed Holy Trinity, and to sing of the sure hope of the forgiveness of sins and the resurrection of the body that comes from Jesus.  For in the end, the only sure foundation on which to build is Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11).  And the only thing that finally matters is His death and resurrection, as He said referring to His own body, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19ff).  In the risen Jesus the ruins are rebuilt (Amos 9:11), all things are made new, and the beauty of creation is restored (Revelation 21:5).