Church Buildings and Christ's Purpose

Shane Raynor writes about a recent study which reveals that a congregational focus on church buildings often demonstrates a lack of church vitality:

My question is, do we really need all the buildings we have? Are having multiple services and meeting for smaller events in homes really such hardships? Is using a big sanctuary for only a few hours a week good stewardship? Besides, the more buildings we have, the more likely we'll use our churches as Christian retreats from the real world. That's not always a bad thing, but at what point do the "retreats" turn into isolated Christian ghettos?

I bit my tongue yesterday at morning Bible study when several men emphatically expressed the need for a new building project at my church. Yet our sanctuary fills up only to about 1/3 on high-attendance Sundays.

Sure, a 'family life center' would be nice. But wouldn't it be more appropriate to build a homeless shelter first? Which project would more appropriately express the mission of God's church?

Yet I won't speak harshly of those men who are mostly parents of teenagers, and are reacting to the pornification of American culture.