Lightning Rods on Churches

As a teenager, I was fascinated with lightning and I became a student of electricity thanks to the high school that I attended which offered a class in electricity and electronics. But as a Christian, I found it quite odd that churches had lightning rods on their buildings and on their steeples. Why? Because geez! That’s God’s house and His places of worship!! And why would God strike His own house with lightning??

Well, unless the sermon was really bad that particular Sunday. Or the choir was totally off-key.

But seriously, the thought did perplex me. That is, until reason and a scientific understanding of lightning made it clear that a build up of electrical energy looks for the shortest/best path to discharge and/or complete a circuit. Lightning rods help to provide a safe path for the build up of electrical energy to dissipate into the earth.

Christians will argue that it’s okay for churches to have lightning rods because insurance rates for property damage coverage are better by having them installed. Yes, I certainly won’t argue with that point! But one could argue that the church’s leadership has a real lack of faith by installing lightning rods. Is their imaginary god in control, or not?