A beautiful old church building in Québec was put up for sale by its founding denomination many years ago. For some time, it has been rented out to people who used this old cathedral, with its cavernous ceilings, crumbling paint, and fabulous acoustics, as a used book and rummage sale. Most recently, a controversial decision was made to tear down what was once a stunning edifice.
I was talking with a reporter, and he asked me what I thought about the “destruction of the church.”
I said, “As sad as it is that this beautiful building is being lost, the church can never be destroyed. The church is a living, breathing body of believers; it’s not a building. As long as people hold a vibrant, active faith, the church will live on.”
The church was met with persecution almost as soon as it was born. But believers always multiply in the face of any attempt to destroy the church. Even today, Christians in China, Nigeria, Iran, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and dozens of other nations, face danger daily because of their faith in Jesus Christ. Buildings dedicated as houses of Christian worship are vandalized and destroyed regularly. The vandals and criminals don’t seem to understand that the essence of the church isn’t about the building. Therefore the church cannot be destroyed with an ax, or with fire, or even with a bulldozer.
Much to the frustration of some, the church lives on, more alive than ever before as the gospel continues to save and change the lives of whosoever will.
“For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all who are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call” (Acts 2:39).
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