The "Why" for the Renovation

When we come to any decision in life the one thing that is true for every Jesus follower is that we want to bring glory to God.  But how does deciding to do or not do a renovation accomplish this?  

Certainly it is true that nobody will enter the kingdom of heaven because of new paint or carpet, and so on one hand it might be right to redirect our energies towards other things.   

But it turns out questions like these have always been more grey than black or white.  Once Jesus found Himself being anointed with very costly perfume by a woman who didn’t have much.  And the question was asked “Shouldn’t this have been sold and the money given to the poor?”  It seemed like a black and white question, but Jesus, who loved the poor more than anyone else, responded by elevating the importance of worship.  “What this woman has done will not be taken away from her.”  

And similarly, we have a real question in front of us without a black or white answer.  It is neither morally right or wrong to renovate.  To this end I’d like to share with you a couple of the “why’s” that come to my mind as I have been thinking about the renovation over the last few weeks.  

First, I think this renovation gives our church the opportunity to work together on a project.  While the majority of the finances will likely come from the Fort George crowd, there are several within the Lighthouse community that are excited about contributing their time, energy and resources as well.  

To me this is a real win.  Over the last several years our church has been looking for ways to draw our two groups together.  And giving Lighthouse the opportunity to pour some sweat equity into the church may provide one more way to move in this direction.  While Jesus doesn’t care about paint and carpet, He does love it when brothers and sisters live and work together in unity.  

Second, it is true that at present there isn’t a pressing need for more sanctuary space.  And so the idea of moving the south wall may feel unnecessary.  But it makes sense to me that using this opportunity to maximize our space and make it as multi-purpose as possible is a way to look forward in faith to the potential needs of the future rather than simply meeting the needs of the present. 

Now these are just my thoughts.  I don’t know the future.  I don’t know what Canada is going to look like when the pandemic ends.  Nor have I received and special insight into God’s specific will for our building.  And so I think it’s fair to admit there may be some differences of opinion about exactly how this all progresses.  I think that’s okay.  I think working through grey things like this is part of being a family.   

But my big hope is that, in spite of any differences of opinion, and whatever decision is made as we vote, our church will be unified around the desire to bring glory to God with everything we do.  Jesus doesn’t care about paint and carpet, but He loves unity and faith.   

So thank you for taking the time to prayerfully consider the project at hand and don’t forget to vote :) 

God bless you,  

Pastor Dan