Convenience is seen in Oxford languages as “the state of being able to proceed with something without difficulty”.
Many christians believe that the state of a place of worship does not really matter to God; and as such, not much is taught about the importance of having a comfortable place for the worshippers. Church buildings are seen as secondary items that may not be required; most often, the convenience of worshippers are seen as not important to the worship. Thus, there are some that do not encourage congregations having their own building for worship; quoting Bible passages of the church that met in other christians’ houses as excuse to not have a conducive place of worship. Some say God did not command it; while others said that there are no examples of early christians having such.
Though much is said in the Bible about:
1. The church been people; like from Matthew 18:17, Jesus said, “tell it to the church.”
2. The early church meeting in the homes of members; like in 1 Corinthians 16:19, that states, “…Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house,....”
Also in Colossians 4:15, “Give my greetings to the brothers… and to Nympha and the church in her house.”
3. The church leaving their homes to some common place of assembly of the church; as in Acts 2:46, “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts…..”
Generally speaking, the New Testament neither command nor forbid local congregation from meeting in homes or outside the homes. God thought it wise to not regulate that.
In the New Testament, not much is said about the church’s meeting place except in some certain instances like Acts 20:9 and Acts 2:46; where the church met in an upper room and in the temple.
One of the common things in the places where these meetings took place is that they were places built for gatherings.
For example,
When Jesus and the disciples met for the Lord’s Supper in Mark 14:13-15; a furnished upper room was picked against any of their individual living rooms.
In Acts 1:12-14, when Jesus asked the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the Holy Spirit, they picked an upper room, convenient for the occasion; that could accommodate 120 people.
In Acts 20:8, Paul meeting was also in the upper room, were it was said that there were many lamps, signifying a large space; enough for a large group to meet.
These may have been used because they had adequate spaces for them to meet in; and the required privacy; as they needed a place to fellowship, teach, pray, and so on.
While our focus is on what constitutes the most important features of worship in the church gathering; which is devotion to God; we use essential items like chairs or buildings, given to us by God, to facilitate devotion.
One may ask, since the church is the people, what is the significance of the church building to the church?
Also, one may answer this by also asking the question; since the family is the people (man and wife); what is the significance of a house to a family; or what is the significance of chairs in a gathering of the church?
Is the house important to the family; are the chairs important in a gathering?
Though, a building can distract members from the worship of the church, if there is so much focus on it; but it does not reduce its importance in worship. Buildings are tools God can use to help us connect with Him, by reducing distractions during worship.
Imagine been wet by rain during worship, or wind blowing the pages of your Bibles consistently.
Having a building for worship is important for Christians, as it provides an enabling environment to feel closer to God through worshipping God in spirit. Thus the money and effort that is channel into having a comfortable building is an act of worship that pleases the Lord. That is, from the concern that God may not accept your worship if it is smeared with distractions; you then put in enough energy (money and effort) to have a place that is conducive for you to have a ‘quiet’ worship.
Conclusively, all of life is to be lived as an act of worship to God; and one must be mindful of what could go wrong in any worship. Making effort to put things in place to forestall what could create problems in worship is a service that God delights in; it means you care about what God think about your worship. This is very important.
We must make effort by all means to reduce all hindrances to acceptable worship. Acceptable worship comes with putting in one’s whole being (in spirit).
Hence, having a convenient place is indispensable.
Good