Building a Building

Among my favorite Bible teachers is Perry Stone. While watching one of his “Manna-Fest” programs on YouTube a few years ago, I noticed another viewer posted the following comment: “It is NOT time to build a building, it’s time for winning the souls!” This was in response to brief remarks Perry made about a building project for his ministry. No financial appeals were made while computerized graphics of his ministry center were shown.

As an evangelist, I agree it's time for winning souls. God doesn’t want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9). But if the Lord continues tarrying His return, where will all the new converts be discipled…outdoors? That would be comparable to a farmer who reaped a huge harvest of wheat but had no barn to put it in. Some will argue the early Christians met in people’s homes. Churches today sometimes start off as home bible studies. But if that group grows too large, a person’s house won’t have enough room to accommodate everyone.

The above photo is part of a meme Facebook friends have posted claiming: “Back when God mattered more than the church building.” I agree what’s preached inside the church is more important than how it looks on the outside. God isn’t honored if His people meet in a luxurious facility but the spiritual needs of the congregation are neglected. Nor it is good for a church to have a debt load that cannot be paid. 

Nevertheless, abundant resources were used in building tabernacles and temples in the Old Testament. During one such building project, Moses said in Exodus 36:6, “‘Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary.’ And the people were restrained from bringing.” How many pastors do you know telling their congregations not to give any more money because they have more than enough to do the work of the Lord?

Sports fans don’t think it’s wrong when millions of dollars are spent on a new stadium for their favorite team to play in. Yet critics complain if a church spends (in their opinion) too much money on a new building. Some Christians defiantly claim, “The church is not a building!” The Lord asked in Haggai 1:4 (NLT), “Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins?”

It’s time for the body of Christ to get rid of a poverty mentality regarding our church buildings. In his book “How God Taught Me About Prosperity”, Kenneth E. Hagin was told, “I expect My people to have the best place in town to meet in!” If we take care of God’s house, He will take care of ours.

“Also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace offerings and with the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of the house of the Lord was set in order.” - 2 Chronicles 29:35

The Wages of a Laborer

Here’s a slogan you may have seen on T-shirts and bumper stickers: “Come work for the Lord…the pay is low but the retirement benefits are out of this world.”  This is partially inaccurate because it gives the idea God won’t prosper his ministers while on earth.  Yet Psalm 35:27 says, “Let the LORD be magnified, Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.”

When you commit to doing the work of an evangelist, you should expect the Lord to bless you.  1 Timothy 5:18 says, “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”  In 1994 I started witnessing on Monday nights with other members of Living Word Christian Center in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.  Since evangelism pastor Nick Kinn and I were about the same size, I occasionally received clothes from him that he no longer needed.

One night when we returned from the streets, Pastor Nick asked if anyone wanted prayer.  I spoke up by mentioning I had just started a sales job that day and needed to make money.  Nick suddenly took up an offering and I was given $68.  The sales job didn’t work out for me.

Numerous times other people from the evangelism ministry handed me money and bought me meals without my asking them to.  Twice I got blessed with brand new suits.  One man offered to give me his Chrysler Laser, the exact type of car I had been praying for! “A faithful man will abound with blessings,” says Proverbs 28:20.

Since stepping out as a traveling missionary, I’ve received provision as a direct result of sharing the gospel with people.  While living in Toronto, two men came with me one day to do some street evangelism in Niagara Falls, Ontario.  After leading one man to the Lord, the newborn believer said, “I feel like I’m supposed to give you guys some money” and handed me a $20 bill.  We were broke at the time and gratefully used the money to get some lunch.

In 2002 I temporarily rented a room at an Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.  At a Sunday morning chapel service, a chaplain bought one of my “Evangelism 101” books.  Having been on a forced fast the previous three days, I eagerly went to a nearby convenience store to buy some food.  There I ministered salvation to the cashier.  Ruth was so grateful for the prayer, she told me to get more food and offered to pay for it herself.

One morning in 2005, I left a library in Tampa, Florida to walk back to the missionary house I was staying at.  Suddenly I felt led to stop and turn around.  Eventually I noticed a young woman waiting at a bus stop.  After leading Valencia to the Lord, I approached a man standing at a bus stop directly across the street.  Aaron was already saved but revealed he had diabetes.  After praying for his healing, Aaron said he wanted to give me an offering and handed me a $20 bill.  At the time I was almost out of money.

Since returning to Tampa last month, more unexpected blessings have manifested for me.  One afternoon while street evangelizing, I found on the sidewalk an unused 31-day bus pass.  A few days before that, I found a $10 bill on the street.  Another time when I led a man named Julio to the Lord, he offered me an energy drink he had just purchased.

It pays to obey the Great Commission.

“The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life.” - John 4:36 (NLT)

Hospitality and the Harvest

Being a missionary can be an exciting adventure but it will challenge one to go beyond their comfort zone. In her book “Tramp for the Lord,” Holocaust survivor Corrie ten Boom wrote about traveling from place to place having to sleep in a different bed every night. This elderly Dutch woman was grateful for the many people who gave her places to stay so she could share God’s love throughout the world. I believe Corrie reaped a harvest of hospitality as a result of her family hiding Jews from the Nazis during World War II.

Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines hospitality as “the act or practice of receiving and entertaining strangers or guests without reward, or with kind and generous liberality.” There are numerous examples in Scripture of God’s people extending hospitality. In Genesis 19, Lot eagerly invited into his home two traveling strangers who turned out to be angels. Lot not only housed and fed his guests but also protected them from the Sodomites. In return, the angels warned Lot to get his family out of Sodom because of coming judgment.

Hospitality was more of a necessity in Bible times. The few inns that existed back then didn’t have the amenities like the Hiltons and Marriotts we have today. When Jesus was born into this world, His parents didn’t stay at an inn because there was no room for them. Later during His earthly ministry, Jesus and His disciples often stayed in people’s homes and received provision from their hosts. The Lord told His disciples in Luke 10:7, “And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house.”

When the Lord sends me somewhere to minister or receive ministry, I’m often provided with a room in somebody’s home. Until recently I questioned why God hadn’t provided finances for me to stay in hotels more frequently. Then while on a road trip to South Carolina, a fellow missionary pointed out 3 John 5-8 to me…

5 Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers,

6 who have borne witness of your love before the church. If you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, you will do well,

7 because they went forth for His name’s sake, taking nothing from the Gentiles.

8 We therefore ought to receive such, that we may become fellow workers for the truth.

Verse 5 in the New Living Translation says, “Dear friend, you are being faithful to God when you care for the traveling teachers who pass through, even though they are strangers to you.”

While I enjoy staying at a nice hotel now and then, the Biblical example for hospitality seems to be in people’s homes. The only incident in Scripture I’m aware of when the Lord commended someone for putting up another at an inn was in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). Aside from lodging costs that can become rather expensive, one drawback to staying in a hotel is you don’t know what kind of people previously stayed in your room and what they were doing. That’s why I make sure to pray and anoint with oil every hotel room I stay in before settling into it.

Sadly, hospitality among the saints in Western nations has diminished due to selfishness and a growing distrust of strangers. It doesn’t help that some so-called Christians don’t tell the truth and try to take advantage of others. Once I talked to a woman in Florida who has a ministry of feeding the poor. She told me about another woman we knew who through manipulation stayed at this minister’s house against her husband’s wishes. This woman lied by claiming she had a job but didn’t. As a result, the minister lost $300 because she helped this woman get her own apartment and the rent never got paid.

Nevertheless, hospitality is something God expects from His people especially to those who want to be leaders in the church…

“A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach” - 1 Timothy 3:2

“Do not let a widow under sixty years old be taken into the number, and not unless she has been the wife of one man, well reported for good works: if she has brought up children, if she has lodged strangers (the Amplified Bible clarifies “of the brotherhood”), if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work.” - 1 Timothy 5:9-10

“For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled,” - Titus 1:7-8

Blessings will result when God’s people show hospitality to one another. In 2 Kings 4, the Shunammite woman went out of her way to build a spare room for the prophet Elisha. Later when Elisha wanted to bless the Shunammite woman in return, he found out from his servant Gehazi that she had no son. Elisha prophesied in verse 16, “About this time next year you shall embrace a son.” She gave birth a year later. Not long afterwards, the child died but Elisha raised him from the dead.

Sometimes I’ve turned down lodging offers because I didn’t have peace about staying in particular places. I’ve also been conscious about not “wearing out my welcome.” As Proverbs 25:17 says, "Seldom set foot in your neighbor's house, lest he become weary of you and hate you.” It should go without saying Christians must avoid abusing privileges given while being a guest in someone else’s home. At the same time, hosts must avoid enabling individuals who are purposely being lazy. As 2 Thessalonians 3:10 (NLT) says, “Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.”

One thing people will be judged on when they stand before the Lord is how they treated the brethren that needed a place to stay. As Jesus said in Matthew 25, “I was a stranger and you took Me in” (Verse 35) and “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” (Verse 40) It also says in 1 Peter 4:9, “Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.”

So if you have a spare room in your home, I encourage you to make it available to fellow believers and especially to ministers that travel through your town. That’s another way you can help fulfill the Great Commission.

“Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.” - Hebrews 13:2