$130 Million Building Exemplifies Consumerism Not Transformation, says House Church Leader [Excerpts]
First Baptist Church of Dallas recently announced plans to build a $130 million church campus with the intention of transforming the city and setting up a "beacon of truth." House church leader Ken Eastburn commented saying the building will not be able to accomplish its goal, "I applaud First Baptist Church for desiring to impact their community, but we need to get beyond a consumer mentality when we think about transformation. Expensive church buildings do not communicate the transforming Truth of the Gospel, they enslave people to the consumerism of our culture."
According to their website, the 1.5 million square foot campus will utilize innovative technology in the interest of environmental friendliness and will include a stone watering tower with a luminescent cross, a 3,000-seat worship center with 7 high-definition screens, a six-floor education building for youth and children's ministries, two side-by-side gymnasiums, and an outdoor concert space. According to church fundraising experts, it will be the most expensive church building program the United States has ever seen.
"Attractive buildings, entertaining preachers, and concert-like music have become staples in churches around the country in their effort to reach out to the lost," says Eastburn, "The problem is that these churches are reinforcing the very things that are entrapping people and keeping them from a transforming relationship with Christ. The church cannot curb consumerism by leveraging consumerism."
