Is it wrong to eat in the church building? Strictly speaking, the answer is no, but allow me to elaborate a little bit. There is clearly a difference between eating a sandwich in the church building and having a potluck arranged by the church in the building. This is a distinction that some brethren do not wish to acknowledge. No one that I know of believes that if I walked into the building, let us say to drop off a bulletin, and I do so while I was eating some kind of food, that I sinned by eating in the building. Why not? Because eating and drinking in the building, per se, is not sinful. This is why it is not wrong to have a water fountains in the building. Some have tried to claim that conservative brethren are inconsistent for saying that we cannot eat and drink in the building, and then turn around and have a water fountain from which to drink. However, such an argument is silly and obviously misses the point. So, let me explain what is sinful.

When a congregation gets involved in doing something that is not a part of the authorized work of the church, sin occurs because doing so goes beyond the doctrine of Christ (2 John 9-11). What makes something a work of the local church?

A work of a local church is anything supported out of the treasury of the church, or, something planned by, provided by, and/or participated in, by the local church. Would anyone deny this to be so? Could a local church plan, provide and participate in an event and then claim that it is not a part of its work? Of course not! Could a church use the Lord’s money, collected on the first day of the week (1 Corinthians 16:1-2), and then turn around and say that what they used it for was not a part of its work? Again, the answer is no.

What is the scriptural work of the church? Let me tell you what the work of the church is not. The work of the church is not to get involved with social, civil, or political activities, provide recreation and entertainment, or provide secular education for children. There is not a single command, example or inference of the New Testament church doing any of these things; thus, to do so is to go beyond the work that Jesus, through His apostles, assigned the church to do.
What is the work of the church? The work is three-fold—Evangelism, Benevolence, and Edification (Ephesians 4:11-12). We must be satisfied with doing what God authorized the church to do and nothing more. A church using the building to have a potluck is a work not authorized by the New Testament. This is what makes such an event sinful. The issue is not eating in the church building, it is doing a work that is unscriptural.

There is something else to consider when deciding whether or not to have social dinners in the church building. We must consider the authorization for the church building in the first place. Authority for church buildings comes to us by way of generic authority. We are commanded not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together (Hebrews 10:24-25); thus, we must have a place to assemble. Since God did not specify where we can meet, we have options available to us, including building a place to worship.

Since the authorization for having buildings is tied to the command to worship, the use of the building must be in accordance with this authorization. My question is “what does having a potluck have to do with worshiping God?” To gather together to socialize, engage in fun and frolic and to fill our stomachs, is not what our buildings are built for, nor is there any scripture to authorize such a use of them. They are authorized because we need a place to keep the command to assemble and worship God. Thus, we ought to use them for their intended and authorized purpose.

So, what about eating in the building? Is it inherently sinful to do so? No, but it is sinful for the church to engage in a work that is unauthorized. The work of the church is spiritual, not social. We come together on the first day of the week to worship God, not satisfy a desire for fun and frolic and fill our stomachs with food.