Locked Doors
Can I just say how odd it is that church buildings are the most locked up places in the country? I’ve been in 15 churches in the last 17 days and everyone is locked like Fort Knox. There are thirty doors and only one is open, and sometimes you need a code or a card for that. Why is this? It seems odd to me, sort of the opposite of Jesus welcoming people in.
Sure, stuff might get stolen if we leave the doors open, but who cares. We’re insured. We believe in eternity in heaven. The stuff we own ought to hold no sway over us. We’re to give our coats and walk the second mile. Nothing can snatch us from the hand of God. So why can’t we open up a few doors. Not make it quite so hard, physically or metaphorically, for people to come on in.
What are we so afraid of?
—–
Huntsville, AL Songs:
Canada
Hold the Light
Birmingham, AL Songs:
Secret Country
New Beginning
Greensboro, NC Songs:
Canada
New Beginning
December 17th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
I know what you are saying but I also know that as a steward of the resources that the church members give, I would want to protect the physical building of the church. Maybe if the buildings were used on days other than Sunday, this would solve itself. Churches that are such bustling communities that locks don’t make sense; someone is always there to look after the place… and the people.
December 17th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Oh, and I still need three tickets to the Milford show. Someone hook me up!!! I will pay!
December 17th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Well, maybe it is an indicator of the crazy times in which we live. I have to disagree with your premise, “just because it is insured.” I think the biblical principal of protecting what God has give us temporary possession over supersedes the notion of condoning theft because we have insurance.
December 17th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Yeah, Andy, I applaud the sentiment, but let’s face it, no church would be able to keep insurance very long if they consistently left their doors open so people could carry stuff off. The other guys have talked about stewardship, etc. I think they’re right on.
What Jason said in #1, though, is what resonates with me: churches that are so bustling with community that locks don’t make sense. May our churches be so.
December 17th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Hanging out with David Henry is making you awful Methodist, Andy.
December 17th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
“Oh, Ned doesn’t believe in insurance. He considers it a form of gambling.” - Maude Flanders
Just kidding, of course.
We lock most of the doors at our church. It is a stewardship issue (I agree with Jason) but for us it’s primarily a safety issue. Most of the time that people are here, kids are also here, and when kids are here we want to make sure they’re safe.
In the past two years we’ve had two or three cases in Lincoln of someone prowling and/or attempting to grab a kid. One of these cases took place at a church just a mile away. We have kids in the building at least 5 times a week, and while we have staff and volunteers to care for them, we need to take precautions such as locked doors. When someone is in the office, the front door (which is viewable from the office) is always unlocked.
I don’t want to make it hard for anyone to come in who is seeking God, or just help, or someone to talk to, but unfortunately we also need to protect those God has entrusted to us.
Now, if I want to be uber-spiritual, I’d just say that according to John 20:19 Christians locking doors is a Biblical concept.
December 17th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
The locked door thing is a poor example in some ways, but two constant weeks of it still makes me sad, and I wish I could explain why better. As I try to think it out better I have two thoughts.
1) Is it worth doing something unwise to the world to set an example?
2) the Church used to be an actual physical place people could go for help, safety, etc… That’s part of why the word “Sanctuary” has such power. For many reasons, most of which are probably not good enough, the Church in America is rarely a place people can go at anytime for help. This makes me sad, and that realization makes me want to do something about it. I’m not sure what, and again, it’s a fresh thought and is not fully formed. Love to know other thoughts.
December 17th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Unwise? Probably not. Foolish to the world? Sometimes. There are obviously things that God has called us to do that will appear foolish to the world. We should do them anyway.
I don’t think God ever calls us, though, to purposefully act in an unwise way.
Now, that being said: I’m resonating with your #2.
December 17th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
i’m the associate pastor at our church and we recently had a long, lengthy discussion on the issue (less than two months…i can’t remember when…)
we decided that it was more in line with the teaching of scripture, our main source being Hebrews 10:32-34
” 32Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. 33Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.”
(taken from biblegateway.com)
verse 34 really says it…”joyfully accepted the confiscation (plundering) of your property”…we act as believers and when bad stuff happens, we rejoice because people take advantage of us because we preach the gospel. hallelujah if they steal something, it seems to me that it means we are doing something right.
-joe
December 17th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
I am someone who sits directly in front of the church office doors. (As you’ve seen, Andy) It is only unlocked when we have a male in our end of the office. Although Lakeland may not seem like the most dangerous place in the world, we have our share of characters that will come in. Most of them we are not able to help in house, but can direct to facilities that are better equipped. Sometimes that is not good enough and people are not happy with our answer. We’ve had a computer stolen as well, but in all, I believe that is more for the safety of the staff, the female staff members in particular.
Anyway, those are my two cents as someone who deals with this on a daily basis.
December 17th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
I know what you are say and can’t say it always sits well with me, but… I think Evangelical churches operate a bit differently than say a Catholic church. I remember being a little amazed when I found out Catholic churches are commonly left opened for people-usually to go pray (though I would venture to guess there are still offices and doors that are still locked in Catholic churches). Providing a place for prayer is probably the main reason Catholic churches stay open. There’s nothing particularly calming or aesthetically soothing about most Evangelical churches that someone would go there specifically to sit and pray. I think this lack of use for said activity is one contributing factor to locking churches
I think there is an underlying belief/acceptance in Evangelicalism that the church build is just a building, but not the Church. The people are the church. I think this belief is still true, ironically, in huge expensive church buildings who invest lots of money into a building while saying “it’s just a build.” They are built as functional hubs and a place for Sunday worship for the Church body. So as Jason said, it’s about stewardship of the building. I think to give something away by choice is fundamentally different than putting ourselves in a position to be taken advantage of and stole from (though, even then we ought to respond with a different set of rights and values). To give our coat away and walk the second mile are choices we make to lay down our lives, but being stolen from isn’t our choice. I totally agree that we should respond to being stolen from in accordance with a value system that says we hold our things with a very loose grip. I think the same perspective applies to our homes. How far should we as believers go to protect our stuff and our families? Locks? Force? Not simple black and white questions, but they have huge implications for how we live and respond.
Have I unnecessarily and excessively obscured and nuanced your point?! Hopefully not. I think your underlying premise that we should hold our stuff with a looser grip is right on.
December 17th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
I am a locksmith that stays very busy working at churches. Funny thing is that I just came from looking at some desks that were broken into at a church. They even had their doors locked.
Churches are hit a lot by thieves because they tend to be fairly easy to go through while a service or a wedding is going on on the other side of the church.
Usually hundreds or thousands of dollars of damage is made, and they walk away with very little or nothing.
Remember there are bad people too.
December 17th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
I, too, work at a church, and we only keep the doors to the office wing and any place in the church that is having an event or meeting open. We have a pretty big building and if we are down in the office, we can’t know who might be coming in or wandering around in other parts of the building when there is nothing going on there.
It is an issue of stewardship and also safety, as Heather Irene said.
I hope this doesn’t come off as offensive, but do you lock your house doors at night, Andy?
December 17th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
good thoughts man. this is what i love about most catholic churches…they are left open for the public. i do wish the church can get back to the point where we really are a refuge for the ones in our community.
i’ve also seen the word ’safety’ used in many of these comments in regards to the church, it’s members & employees. i can’t remember reading anything in the gospel saying that we’re guaranteed safety…or that the life of a christian is to be safe. if anything…we’re called to the opposite.
i also think it’s good for us to do things that are ‘unwise’/foolish (semantics) in the eyes of the world. that’s what sets us apart. we are to live a life of love & sacrifice…putting others wholly before ourselves.
my two cents…not worth much…i’ll stop now.
you playing in Austin anytime soon?
December 17th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Interesting discussion. Reminiscent of old many of the old-school AO discussion-inducing posts!
December 18th, 2008 at 2:12 am
when we lock the doors of a church, it’s not the building we’re protecting. It’s the people we’re protecting. Think of what it would do to the mental state of church members if we leave the doors open at all times, thereby inviting all sorts of vandalism, and then when we come to worship on sunday/wednesday/etc., the place is ransacked. The physical building is no longer a sanctuary at that point in any sense.
God blesses some churches with resources and equipment and such. and nothing i’ve learned of the character of God thus far leads me to believe that it’s ok for us to be blatantly irresponsible with the provisions we’re given. It seems to me to be reminiscent of the parable of the talents where the man who was irresponsible with what he was given was chided by the master.
so I say protect the building, protect the people, but in your protection and locking of doors, be careful not to shut out anyone who may need to share in the provisions we’re blessed with. Being a good steward means taking of care of what you’re given, but it also means staying away from being stingy with what you’re given.
Andy, I don’t want to speak for you, but the bit about being stingy is the heart of your argument for me. I can completely understand how seeing church after church locked up tight can leave a bad taste in your mouth. It makes it seem like we’re so caught up in protecting our stuff that caring for people has become a vague after-thought. I have seen this in many churches, but at the same time, I have seen the opposite to be true just as often.
I think that when God blesses a church it is their responsibility to care for what they’re given. It is also their responsibility to use what they’re given to care for others, thus making the need to care for what they’re given even more pressing.
I don’t know, I’m just rattling off thoughts here.
December 18th, 2008 at 2:19 am
Getting back to my first paragraph. In one sense you could spin the ransacking of a church as “rejoicing in the oppression”, but to me, that doesn’t apply in America. This is a country where oppression doesn’t really exist in regard to religious freedom. Sure, there’s ridicule and stuff like that, but true persecution and oppression, not yet. If this was china and the govt. came in and destroyed a church building then that would be a cause to rejoice in suffering because it would be an example of God’s people finding strength in knowing that He triumphs over all manner of oppression.
But in America the buildings will only be destroyed by people who simply want to cause senseless harm. it is simply dangerous to allow that to happen. To leave the building unguarged would be to put church members in harm’s way knowingly, that is not a good decision.
Wow, i’m gonna stop talking now before I make myself look like more of an ass. sorry folks, I’m not trying to start trouble, I’m just long winded and a bit of a rambler.
December 18th, 2008 at 7:37 am
we just had to buy new doors for our church because our old back doors didn’t lock and a friend of mine had his guitar stolen. yeah, insurance covered it, but it was still an inconvenience.
and the robbery happened at night, of course, when no one was there. anyone trying to get into during business hours, or even evenings, can get in at our church because people are there. but when no one is there, gotta lock those doors.
that being said, i think you’re onto something though…what i am frustrated with is the heart that some folks have about their church, and how they like it being a little clique where they hang with friends. Many folks have established a nice comfort zone at work, and they don’t want that rocked by outsiders or people different from them.
In that sense, I think those closed hearts are far more damaging to Jesus’ bride than locked doors ever could be.
December 18th, 2008 at 10:11 am
BUSH,
I agree that the Bible doesn’t guarantee safety for followers of Jesus. I embrace that and recognize that at times I will be put in any variety of danger because I call Christ Lord.
But I think there’s still a responsibility for those God has placed in our care. You’re a parent, right? Don’t you lock your doors at night? Don’t you keep your son in his car seat, buckled in on a trip to the store? Don’t you put up the gate on his crib, and make sure he doesn’t have any blankets near his face when he goes to bed? God has placed our kids in our care for a time, and we have a responsibility to love them and care for them as God loves and cares for us.
When I’m talking about safety, this is what I’m talking about: to provide sanctuary for those in our care, especially our kids. I don’t think locking the doors to our childrens’ area is going to prevent anyone from coming to Christ, but it might prevent a predator from harming the defenseless.
If I’ve misinterpreted or read too much into your comments, please let me know.
December 18th, 2008 at 11:54 am
OK keep talking about the whole “Church” thing and totally ignore my pleas for BTLOG tickets in Milford.
December 18th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Jason, I might have tickets for you! Send an email to jud DOT neer AT gmail DOT com and I’ll see if I can hook you up.
December 18th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Andy, I’ve long wondered the same thing as your post.
December 18th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Andy,
The church I grew up in was stodgy and very locked. However, they left an obscure side door unlocked that allowed folks to visit the small chapel to pray. When I was a teenager, they started locking that door. I rewrote the lyrics to a famous hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is our Church.” The youth pastor didn’t like it too much.
During my senior year, I had an experience at my church regarding the heart of ministry that still makes me shake my head. Even when the doors were unlocked, our church still acted like a fortress.
“Excuse me, sir? Could you help us?’
I looked up from a chicken biscuit, Coca-Cola, my Bible, and journal to meet the gaze of a determined man. He was bundled up for a blizzard. His boots, pants, jacket, and sock hat were all worse for wear—like they’d seen more mud than snow. In Decatur, Georgia, the skies rarely snow. And if flakes do appear, they are often accompanied by the unwelcome guests of sleet and ice.
“I can try,” I said, intrigued, but a little perturbed that he had interrupted my advent devotional. The first Sunday of December is a time to reflect on the times that God told his people about the coming of Jesus—some centuries before his humble birth.
“I’m sorry to bother you,” he said, “but my family and I are running out of luck.” He raised a tired arm in the direction of a woman and two children bundled up just like him. “I moved us here from West Virginia this fall to try and find some construction work.”
His defeated voice reminded me of tired football linemen from losing teams mercilessly interviewed about miniscule missed plays. This man was weary.
“The job was good for a couple months,” he continued, “but I got laid off. Gradually we’ve had to sell everything off to keep ourselves fed.”
I stole a glance at the table and saw steaming Styrofoam cups, but no trays. Maybe they’ve finished breakfast, I thought.
“Uh, sure, I understand,” I said trying to be compassionate. I was 17, drove a sports car, and argued with my parents about college. I didn’t — couldn’t — understand his plight. I reached for my wallet.
“Oh, no. No. I don’t want your money.” His tone was urgent. Defiant. “We’re working our way to North Carolina. I hear there’re jobs there. We’ve sold off everything but our camping gear. We’ve got some food and some money.” He looked at the floor and grew quiet. “My wife and I are picking up odd jobs—leaf raking, gutter cleaning, that type of thing. Between walking and hitching, we want to be there by New Year’s.”
I must have looked confused. If he didn’t want my money, how could I help him? I was about to ask the question when he looked up from the floor with the same determination he started our conversation with.
“We need some candles. (read the rest here: http://wmarkwhitlock.blogspot.com/2004/12/christmas-candles.html)
December 19th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
W. Mark Whitlock,
Great story. I followed the link to your blog. Thanks for posting it! It’s a great reminder.
December 22nd, 2008 at 11:49 am
I’m a bit late to this discussion, but feel the need to add my 2 cents. I think Andy’s view of churches being locked all the time is probably a bit skewed by circumstance. When putting on a somewhat major production a church has to manage its facility somewhat differently than normal, else us rapid fanboys would be storming the green room in droves, would we not?
In fact, most of the concert riders I’ve seen mandate that the buildings be locked down to the point of single entrance, backstage locked/guarded, etc. That’s the way its gotta be when you’ve got a ticketed audience.
Of course none of this invalidates Andy’s basic premise, which I suspect is most likely true. The solution as I see it is to simply use church buildings as much as possible during the week. An occupied building need not be locked.
December 27th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
I’m also late to the conversation, but might part of this problem lie in the fact that so few church members are involved and available to hang out at the church for people to visit? I mean the pastors and paid staff shouldn’t be the only ones available to “man” the building for people. The church my husband and I have just been hired at in Illinois is almost always open, including a time where we have a computer lab open for anyone and everyone to come in and use the computers. We want to have it open all the time, but we don’t have enough volunteers. Anyways, I just think that the pastor and staff can’t do everything, and they shouldn’t be expected to. The body of Christ needs to truly act as a body, not just a couple limbs.