THE MALL vs. THE MONASTERY: IS YOUR CHURCH BUILDING SETTLING FOR LESS?

A building should reflect its use and purpose. It would be unfitting for a brothel to look like the state capitol and vice versa. This is an extreme example, but I think it gets the point across. Now, lets think in terms of churches. A church should not be built to our standards to match the shopping mall next door. Rather it is our job to elevate ourselves to God’s standards. Christ already came down to save man, now it is our turn to strive towards Him. When a church is built it should reflect its purpose and Who it houses. If the purpose of a church is greater than that of the state capitol, isn’t it proper that I should be able to recognize a church more easily than I can recognize a government building. This does not mean that every church must be as big and grand as St. Peters, however it should be built to match the means of the community, but with the purpose to encourage us to rise to goodness and beauty, rather than design the building to stoop to our fallen nature. 

What do you think? Does your local church building inspire you to look upward, or does it blend in too much with the world around it?