Why?

It’s been a while since I linked to him, but Alan over at The Assembling of the Church has a very good series of questions that should be asked, although the title of the post is “It is dangerous to ask why.”

Here is a selection of his questions (but take the time to read them all, it's worth the time):

Why do we say that the church is people and people are important, but spend so much money on buildings?

Why is the place where the church meets called a "sanctuary", "house of God", or "church"?

When believers meet together, why is it called a "worship service"?

Why is the "preacher" or "pastor" allowed to speak when the church meets but no one else is allowed?

Why do we need a special "family life center" for sports activities when there are perfectly good community centers?

Why do we call each other "brother" and "sister" when we barely know one another?

Why do we spend one minute shaking hands and call it "fellowship"?

When we meet with other believers, why do we spend most of our time looking at one person and the back of everyone else's heads?

Why do we emphasize, teach, and demand obedience to these things (and others) which are not found in Scripture - and some are even contrary to Scripture - while we de-emphasize, ignore, or explain away other things such as discipleship, fellowship, community, or the "one anothers" which are emphasized in Scripture?