DE-SANCTIFIED CHURCHES

Not too long ago, a real estate listing in Dallas had the simple headline: "Converted Church." In other words, what had once been a church facility is now somebody's house.

The listing under the heading had this description: "The altar has been adapted for use as a granite and stainless steel themed kitchen, in homage to the cooking gods." That's the words they used -- "in homage to the cooking gods!" It went on, "The choir loft has been rewired for a home theater." There was no baptistery, but there was a hot tub -- and, among other things, a game room, a music room and an exercise studio. All this for about $2 million! One more thing: the 15,000 square foot church/home has 11 bedrooms. Nice to know people can now sleep comfortably in that church.

John Whiteside, the realtor showing the house, says, "De-sanctified churches are the number-one type of building converted to residential use."

Sad to say, this has happened to a lot of churches, whether or not they have been converted into residences. They've been "de-sanctified" and have simply become comfortable places for people to gather and sometimes sleep. These are churches that have lost their way, because they forgot what they were all about.

(From a sermon by C. Philip Green, Converted Church, 12/23/2010)