Hoping in our true home

I’ve just moved into a new office and I’m really excited. You may think that demonstrates a certain kind of sadness. However, the truth is I spend a lot of time at my desk and for the last 2½ years my office has been split across two locations – one building housing many of my colleagues and my books, the other my desk.

The distance between the two was not huge – a short walk across a car park. But it was enough that I didn’t spend nearly enough time with others, nor reading or using the books I’m privileged to own.

Moving in has felt like a new start. Everything is now as it should be; and I have one less excuse for my procrastination.

Caring for the homeless

Place is important. That’s true for home life. It’s true for work life. Having somewhere to call home makes a huge difference to how we approach life with all its ups and downs. It’s why the Bible is so concerned for the stranger or immigrant, a theme that is repeated time and time again. It’s why Christians today should be concerned for those who are homeless, whether it is in your home country, or in one of the many places around the world where people do not enjoy many of the privileges we do.

Countless research projects have backed this up with empirical evidence. And it’s not just true for individuals. It’s true for organisations too. One of the best-known Christian books on Institutional this topic is called Intelligence by Gordon Smith and he makes the point that ‘Buildings and Space’ is an oft-overlooked item when planning how organisations will work effectively.

A place to meet

This was brought home to me in the summer when our church lost its building. We meet, like many relatively new churches, in a school hall. Over the summer the hall was refurbished and with just one week to go before we due back in, we were told that the hall would no longer be rented out. There were other rooms we could use on site, but none was really suitable in the medium term, or access could not be guaranteed each week.

Suddenly, we realised how important a place is for church. Not our own building necessarily (that would be too expensive in our town). But somewhere suitable and regular to which we can invite others and put down roots.

But of course, though all of this is true, for Christians place is not everything. Ultimately, we don’t belong in this world. It’s not our home. We are, to quote the opening lines of Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, ‘walking through the wilderness of this world’ on a journey to somewhere better, safer, more glorious in every way.

The idolatry of place

Living in relative affluence as many of us do, we are seduced by the idolatry of place to which many around us succumb. We see it in our house make-overs and constant searches on RightMove. We feel it in the constant urge to upgrade. We can feel the same idolatry about our church buildings too, particularly when we visit another church where their facilities are so much better than ours.

The antidote to such misguided focus is to read and remind ourselves regularly that, like Abraham of old, we are ‘looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God’ (Heb. 11:10). Whilst I am enjoying my new office, I need to remember that it’s only temporary.