church buildings

Once at a gas station a Mexican lady asked me, "How do I get to that big historic church?" She was talking about the Pentecostal church beside the interstate, actually two church buildings side by side. One is huge, the other is more huge. They also have a large, color animated LED sign. The place is fairly new, so the word "historic" was probably mischosen. However, it did make me realize that someday it might be. Hers was perhaps the first really positive reference to the place that I'd encountered from an outsider. Most people call it "Six Flags over Jesus" or something like that. I too viewed the place with some contempt; It is afterall somewhat imposing, and doesn't help that some Pentecostal people act so scared of people like me who don't tuck their shirts into their pants. Aren't church buildings like this simply arrogant displays of personal prosperity? A fellow college student said indignantly, "All of that money should have been given to the poor." Judas Iscariot, the apostle who never really loved Jesus and ultimately betrayed him said something like that when a woman anointed him with some very expensive perfume (John 12:5), to which Jesus responded, "You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me" (John 12:8). These verses helped to break me free from judging church activities, the most conspicuous perhaps being building projects. Only God knows our motives and for all we can see, these are legitimate attempts to honor Him. I cringe as others pass judgement on the church, and not because I don't know what they're talking about. It's because they may just be passing judgement on the Bride of Christ, and one day we'll all stand before her Husband.