by J. Randal Matheny

A sign in Sao Paulo, where we were taking kids back and forth to camp this weekend, proclaimed that some group was "opening a church." Not infrequently we hear that phrase spoken, and seeing it in large letters struck me that the words are more than just an awkward expression.

Out near the Christian camp, it is told that one man who bought a little dilapidated building, formerly a bar, pondered whether to continue as a bar or "open a church." He apparently had trouble deciding which would bring in more money.

Biblically speaking, one does not open a church. You open a store. You open a business. You can even open, in Portuguese, an exception. You open a can (of worms). But you can't open a church. At least, not Christ's church.

This phrase is not merely an unfortunate expression. It belies either pecuniary interest or power issues. It climbs the height of religious sectarianism and plunges the depth of human depravity.

God gives the increase (1 Corinthians 3:5-9). Man is God's tool to plant and water, but God makes it grow.

Jesus said that he would build his church (Matthew 16:18). His reference is primarily to the establishing of the church, as revealed in Acts 2, but it is he who continues to build churches throughout the world. It is not, and never can be, a human activity. The New Testament speaks little or nothing about church planting or church growth, to the chagrin of church growth advocates.

It does speak of the progress of the gospel (see Philippians 1:12). By these words Paul refers to what happened to him, not what he caused to happen. His imprisonment permitted him to preach to people who otherwise would never have heard the gospel.

Christians pray, preach, and teach. And through that divinely appointed activity, God makes it happen. The Lord builds churches.

In some places, because of Christians' lack of faith and disobedience, not even God is "opening churches." But that is a different travesty.