Saying, "The church in Acts didn't have buildings, so we don't need any, either" isn't all that helpful. That's about as helpful as saying, "The early church didn't have guitars, so we don't need them, either." The fact is, the early Church (and even Jesus followers before his death, see Luke 8:3) had expenses, and those expenses were paid for by other generous followers of Jesus. This doesn't mean that any expense is okay or that we can be justified in spending whatever we like on buildings, but it's simply unhelpful and untrue to suggest that spending money on a ministry tool (including a building) or program is not in line with the NT Church.
It's biblical to spend money toward the goal of seeing lost people come to faith in Jesus. There are a LOT of good things that Christians' and churches' money could go toward. People knowing Jesus is one of them. As noted in the previous point, financial supporters were a part of Jesus' ministry and of the early Church, presumably to help pay for expenses. In addition, Paul states in 1 Corinthians 9 that pastors ought to be paid for what they do. It's a good thing to spend money toward the end of people knowing Jesus.
There are people who are hungry RIGHT NOW in your community. Now, it's unfair to weigh every ministry expense against the fact that the money could be spent on the poor. In fact, such a complaint was made by none other than Judas Iscariot, and I think we should probably try to avoid following his lead wherever possible. However, we are also charged by Jesus to care for those who are suffering in a practical way (Matthew 25:31-46, for instance). The previous point shows that it's okay to spend money on worthy ventures other than feeding the hungry. But the question does need to be asked, "are we building a monument to ourselves at the detriment of loving the outcast and the poor?"
It's okay to spend money glorifying God. As a former Anglican, it strikes me as odd how much we as Evangelicals overlook this. One of the most important things we do as the Church is to gather corporately to worship God as the body of Christ. So, why wouldn't we encourage people to give sacrificially to have a gathering place that points to the glory of God? Again, when we start building monuments to ourselves in the name of Jesus, we have a problem.
A lack of financial resources does not exist in most American churches. I'm not saying that people are not going through difficult times. My point is that we often discuss these issues surrounding building and church finances as though we live in scarcity. The reality is that we as Americans spend far too much on ourselves, and that if we really gave sacrificially, perhaps there wouldn't be as much of a tension between feeding the hungry and having places for people to gather and hear about Jesus in a corporate setting. On a personal note, every time my wife and I "cut the fat" out of our family budget, God shows us (often using an unexpected expense, such as medical bills or my car breaking down) how far we have to go in learning to live without things we think we "need" that are actually wants.
Thoughts? How do you see this relating to youth ministry?
