"I may not know much about God, but I'd say we built a pretty nice cage for him." - Homer Simpson, after helping some island natives construct a chapel

We start off our first Christianity Deconstructed column with a bang, tackling one of the most solid Christian traditions: the church building. Many Christians will acknowledge that the "church" isn't really the building -- that it's the people inside -- but nobody ever suggests getting rid of the building. We do.

One of the forgotten gifts of Jesus was freedom from place and structure. When a woman asked him where people should worship -- in a temple or on a mountain -- he answered "a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth." What he meant by that is huge, but one implication is clear: there are no "holy" (specially separated) places where you meet God. It doesn't matter where you meet God...as long as you meet him anywhere, not just the areas designated by man. In America, Christianity is almost inseparable from the church building or cathedral, and it kills that spirit and truth Christ spoke of. It's time to break out and come alive again.

Yes, the early believers sometimes met in Jewish temples. That's because they were accustomed to it as a public forum where people who were interested in religion (primarily Yahweh) gathered. But they never held 'official' meetings, did not view the temple as inhabited any longer by God, and only paid the temple tax because it was law. For the most part, though, they met "house to house" in small groups.

It wasn't until Emperor Constantine made Christianity legal in 313 A.D. and popularized it, that the institution of Christianity was born -- and with it, elaborate church buildings. After all, as the newest official religion on the block, they had to compete with all the other temples in town. The idea of "holy places" was still a hot one in pretty much all other religions, and with Constantine's help, it became an essential part of Christianity too. The Catholic church was born, and for centuries after, anyone who wasn't a part of the visible institution was persecuted. If you didn't show up in cathedral on Sunday, you could get burned at the stake. To make the pagans comfortable, they even adopted the phallic spires of barbarian worship sites, renaming them steeples and topping them off with crosses.

Today, the unfaithful are called the "unchurched." The idea is to get them filling a pew and paying cash; worry about them knowing God later. Exaggeration, sure, but you get the idea: being in the building is the thing that matters.

It might seem like we're making a big deal out of nothing. No, we're making nothing out of a big deal (to people). If we identify ourselves with Christ, his Spirit plugs directly into our souls now, making our bodies in effect the "houses of God." Christianity-the-religion still thinks in Old Testament terms, as if it's Judaism. We still want a big building for God to live in so we think we know where to find him when we want him (which is only once a week for an hour...if He's lucky).

The most obvious condemning factor is that it takes big bucks to build and maintain a church building. Meanwhile, that family down the street goes hungry. Of course, Americans like us are much too hardened to care about that. Right?

How about this, then: Buildings perpetuate the image of Christianity as just another element of human society. "Nothing new to see here, people, just another church." Buildings provide social acceptance for Christ, something he never had nor wanted. "Now that we know he's ONLY in those buildings, that's cool. We don't have to worry about him wandering around in real life and disrupting things." That's not the way it should be, man. Following Christ, we are to subvert the elements of human society -- materialism, appearances, pride, success -- not join in and compete! If we aren't playing by different rules (freedom and humility), then our claim of something beyond this life rings hollow....not as a divine communication, but just another anthropological curiosity -- "look what man-creatures can make with a little free time."

In a few cases, large buildings have their uses. But creating a comfortable atmosphere, large stage, and state-of-the-art sound system for hundreds or thousands of people should not be one of them. That just reinforces the entertainer/spectator format -- which goes against everything Jesus taught.

So, if you are at all awakened by this new knowledge, get others and find somewhere free to meet. If you've got good weather, nothing beats the outdoors for worshipping the Creator. Early believers even met in catacombs when they were being hunted by the Man. Homes are the still the best idea, though. The first few centuries of believers didn't meet in homes just because they were hiding out from Christian-hunters. It was simply better for what God wants out of us: to love and serve others. In China today the underground church meets secretly in small home groups...and it's huge.

The advantages of homes are plenty: Need to start a church? There's instant space in somebody's house, no fundraising needed. Smaller groups means more involvement by each person, and more opportunity to use gifts and talents. God needs to be met and known in close relationship to others, or he isn't being met at all. You can't love others while sitting in a pew (well, maybe on the back row if the lighting is low...oooh, that was bad). It might be more uncomfortable and messy to be with people face to face in somebody's living room, but it will be REAL. No watching the show from the back row. Seeking God should be woven into daily life, not separated into a set time and place. Whole families will be in on the meetings, and everyone can have a say, not just the important adults. And when you meet in various homes, neighbors will wonder what's up when they hear you singing and laughing, and you can invite them over for a good time...and good news.

Go after God with your fellow travelers in the midst of life -- in your homes, outside, in coffee shops...anywhere but in a "church building." Instead of feeding your money to a structure, pass it out to those in need all around you. Help bring down the institutional church, or else it's going to keep keeping YOU down. And the rest of the world untouched and unmoved....

sources for historical info: britannica.com, Searching Together back issues

by Josh Spencer, with Jon Zens

NOTE: The views expressed in this column most likely do not reflect those of the rest of Stranger Things' contributors.