I was in London attending a cocktail party. A very proper English gentleman cornered me and, upon hearing my congregation back in the states was in the midst of building a new facility, inquired as to the kind of material we were using in the construction. A little bemused by his query, I answered we were using primarily wood and glass.

"Good!" he loudly proclaimed. "That way the whole thing will fall down in 50 years!"

I was more than a bit stunned at his pleasure, but he went on to tell me that he thought the greatest tragedy in the Church of England was that they built church buildings of stone and mortar that lasted for hundreds and hundreds of years. What he yearned for, he told me, was to have churches fall down and force their congregations to re-evaluate what they were all about, force them to stop all their chatter and confront the very reason for their existence. Why are we here? What are we about?

This is the business of the church. We are to constantly be asking such holy questions. If our answers include serving the poor, feeding the hungry, loving our enemies, then may our buildings long stand. If not, then to hell with them and soon.