*Note: Scriptures are links that take you to a page where you can read the text*
How many times have you been at a Church building and heard someone say:
"Ooops, not now, we're at church!"....or.... "You can't talk to me that way, we're at church!" ?
Better yet, how many Church buildings have you been in where the place is treated like an idol where everyone is to act as though they're in the presence of the Queen of England? Many people will not cuss, drink beer, gossip, or be rude in a Church building. No running, playing, eating or drinking (besides the Lord's Supper of course), etc. is allowed in the sanctuary.
The list of rules could go on!
So often, I've known that this thinking is wrong. I behave in the Church building because it's indoors. I wouldn't go running through my house, the doctor's office, or the grocery store, and that respect carries over to the Church building as well.
Even so, I must admit, people who think this way probably think they are being Biblical.
After all, the Bible tells about the time that Jesus went into the temple and turned over tables in order to get people to treat His Father's house with reverence and respect as the holy place that it was.
Right?
This morning as I was reading through John, I came across that text.
I noticed something.
That line of thought comes from the first half of the exchange. Coupled with the second half, we learn even more!
We see that Jesus used His cleansing of the temple of the Jews to point forward to the cleansing of the Temple and the sanctity of God's house. Like Christ, our bodies are the temple of God. As Christians, we have the Spirit of God within us. Not only are we the Church, we are always at Church. We must always act like it. God's holy house goes with us wherever we are.
Christian, you are always at Church.
Please, don't make yourself (the temple) a place of trading the righteousness you have in Christ for the fleeting pleasures of the world, whatever they may be.
Wow--Victoria, that is a great insight! It's all too easy to put on a Sunday attitude with my Sunday clothes--easy, but wrong. Thanks for your great challenge!
ReplyDeleteI just caught up on all your posts, and this one struck me the most. I "knew" this, but I didn't "know" it. I will begin to consciously live with this perspective.
ReplyDeleteI also am excited with the prospect of passing this on to children--all the kids in our church have a habit of running, and are frequently getting reprimanded. We don't want them to get the wrong idea, though, that God somehow "lives" in the church!