Click here to watch a series of videos detailing the massive and spectacular renovations to First Baptist Dallas. It’s a pretty amazing vision, one about which I have mixed feelings. Here’s the brief description from the site:
“First Baptist’s proposed new state-of-the art, 21st Century campus will be a re-creation, not a renovation, of a facility that is united in function and design; open and accessible; and easily identifiable as a church. The campus will embrace the church’s historic past while boldly asserting its place in the Dallas skyline. Amid a wave of downtown revitalization, the new campus will complete the circle of resources meeting the mind, body and spiritual needs of Dallas residents.”
After watching the videos, I’d love to know what you think: Too much? Or a great expression of the grandeur of God?
It makes my stomach hurt. But my kids think it looks awesome!
Wow, I’m not sure what to think about that. It’s very nice, but is it really needed? I don’t know what to think.
I almost made it through the first one before cutting it off…so, maybe they get better, that’s the best thing I can say about it. “Transformation” scripturally does NOT refer to an outward building anywhere that I can see. The “transformation” they are referring to should never be reflected purely outwardly and I can’t think of any reason the outward transformation would encourage inward transformation. How does that meet spiritual needs of the residents as they claim? What message does that portray to other countries? Should we start promoting in developing countries that the only way to meet the “mind, body and spiritual needs” of a community is to build a ridiculously large, over-priced, extravagant building? I’ll try to tone it down, it is a church after all and I have to hope that somebody had good intentions at least…but from what I saw, it’s a stupid excuse to use money in a way that does not share the Gospel…which as Paul says in Acts 20 should be our ultimate task in all we do. I have known other churches who went this route and I didn’t feel like I could support it, I would love to hear the other side of this though, how that helps us “be light” because all I can see is disgusting American waste and misplaced priorities.
As a critically thinking modern church member, nothing embodies the primacy of the Cross to me like a well executed curbside drop-off. I used to have to go to DFW to get that. Not anymore.
My instinct is to be cynical and judgmental. That’s the easy way out for me. I tried to have an open mind as I watched the videos, asking myself, “What does God think of all this?” Heck if I know. There’s of course the example of the temple in the Bible. Talk about extravagant. But… living in a third world country makes it pretty hard to get behind modern justification of extravagance. But then again, don’t we all have some degree of extravagance in our lives? I’ve bought plenty of things this week that I didn’t really need, all the while passing hungry, homeless people on the streets. Who gets to throw the first stone?? I just hope that somewhere in the near future this church starts talking about the poor that live around the corner… and not just water and grass and glass and steeples.
I’m always curious what you think about these controversial things you post, Michael. Do we get to know?
“The fortress-like building is unappealing to the people of Dallas.
The 8 women and 3 men who first founded FBC in 1868…the boldness of their witness, their commitment and courage became the very DNA of First Dallas. The church became a bulwark against the darkness of the culture around it. The influence of First Baptist…transformed reckless, lawless Dallas.
A worship the whole city of Dallas can be proud to call it’s own.”
I don’t think God has a problem with us building new churches. But with the above statements, I’m not sure they have the same vision as their founding mothers and fathers. It’s not about the building. It’s about “the boldness of their witness, their commitment and courage..their influence on the culture around them.”
[...] Yesterday I posted about the $130 million building campaign of a church that is, ironically, in the same city where the Cowboys play. Maybe it’s a Texas thing, but these things feel very similar to me. Regarding the same building campaign, fellow-blogger Jared Wilson had this to say: What is at stake is what church is. In the building Q&A linked above, we find this gem: “[T]he glass walls have an evangelistic effect: people walking by have a view in from the street and feel drawn in.” [...]
just a couple of thoughts -
what does Paul say? Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial? That comes to my mind here. That’s great if that want to construct a beautiful edifice to go along with the “temples of commerce” in downtown Dallas. But, is it beneficial?
It’s not really my aesthetic. Doesn’t really appeal to me. I can sympathize with the fact that they’re trying to ‘be relevant’ and make the gospel relevant, but it seems like this is an overcompensation in the wrong direction to the nth degree.
The ‘Worship Center’ looked depressing – it’s like they wanted to build a state of the art auditorium but wanted it to look church-like, kind of, but it just ends up being awkward and big. It didn’t seem sacred. It did seem passe and kitsch.
The video is pretentious and a little offensive. I appreciate that they want the buildings to “do” so much (embody the message, communicate the primacy of the cross), but the narrator pitches it as if the only way to proclaim the cross of Christ is to hop on board with this program.
That was a gem of a moment when the narrator said, “. . . literally going up to a higher place . . .” as the pretend people rode the escalator to the second floor entrance of the “Worship Center.”
Deep within me, this seems to be what is wrong with American (and Western) Christianity (evangelicalism). We farm out mission and force ginormous buildings do the work of going to the harvest.
It all seems so fake. It seems like something that wouldn’t be able to make the journey to the high country in Lewis’ Great Divorce, something that couldn’t bear the weight of glory.
I would rather see them spend a chunk of their money on building a shelter for the 6500 or so homeless people who live in Dallas. How about job creation? Yes, yes, yes, I know, people need Jesus. And they do. But they need not only spiritual healing but physical, financial, and emotional healing as well. I say raise up the poor and hungry first and when that’s done, build your buildings.