Q. Is a Church building holy and to be reverenced?
A. The Scripture does not teach us to venerate buildings. In fact Acts 7:48 says … the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands. However, since Christ indwells us, whatever we possess or do becomes holy – separated for His purposes.
We are not really possessors of things for ourselves; we are rather stewards of what we have on God’s behalf. It follows that we would care for whatever comes into our ‘custody’ for Him.
Little children running around a church building, or exuberant youth doing their natural noisy thing on a Friday night, by no means desecrate “the House of God” or His building. In fact, we have to get away from reverencing a brick and mortar building. It is not the House of God; the Word teaches that we are His House – Heb 3:6.
Nevertheless, we ought to conduct ourselves in an orderly manner whenever we gather, whether it be in a home or a hall. Our focus needs to be on the purpose for our gathering. Thus if we come for worship, we want to minimise distractions so as to give the Lord our full attention. Similarly, if we come to be taught God’s Word and Ways, we don’t want to miss anything He has to say. And if we’re preaching the Gospel, the last thing on earth we want to do is to disturb a visitor who may need to come to Salvation in Christ.
Thus we say, let’s act wisely and if children are disruptive, we ask parents and younger helpers to step in for the best use of our time with each other and the Lord.