MONDAY
This week we come to the driving point of this campaign. I’ve intentionally been developing this theme slowly. In part, I’ve been doing this to give us the wow moment that the first century Christians likely experienced when they read these passages.
Before we go any further, let’s take a moment and remember the iterations of sacred space that we have encountered so far in the biblical story: Eden, the tabernacle, the temple, and Jesus. In the ancient world sacred space was tied to a location—Eden, tabernacle, temple. It was a massive shift in thinking for Jesus to come on the scene and claim to be the living temple! The temple has shifted from a building/location to a person.
The New Testament authors take this idea another step further: If Jesus is the embodiment of the presence of God (i.e., God in flesh, the second person of the Trinity), then his church, those who are in Christ, who identify with him, are also embodiments of the presence of God. The church is the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise that the people of God will later worship him in spirit and in truth, not in one location or another (Jn. 4:21-24).
We see this theme mentioned over and over again in the New Testament. Here are a few of the most commonly cited:
1 Corinthians 3:16–17 (NIV) 16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.
2 Corinthians 6:16 (NIV) 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God.
1 Corinthians 6:19 (NIV) 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?
The temple of God in the New Testament era is individual believers who collectively make up the church.* The temple/tabernacle was sacred space because that is where God chose to manifest his presence most powerfully. Now God has chosen to manifest his presence most powerfully in his people.
This was a dramatic shift for the first century Christians and it still is for us today. Our language doesn’t help on this concept. We refer to the building that God’s people meet in as the church. We also refer to the people who gather together regularly to worship as a church. It’s confusing. Even if our language is confusing, our theological thinking must be crystal clear. Believers—the people—are now the temple/sacred space, the most powerful manifestation of God’s presence!
My primary goal for this campaign is this—when you think of sacred space you think of yourself, the fellow believers sitting next to you in church, and the believers around the world. When you think of sacred space don’t picture a beautiful church building or temple from a bygone era or a location in Israel where Jesus did something awesome. Instead, think of a brother or a sister in Jesus. We enter into sacred space when we go to small group just as much as when we enter into the church building on Sunday morning. The prayer meeting is more sacred than the location on the Jordan River where John baptized Jesus. Therefore, cooking a meal for needy brother or sister is a deeper act of worship than putting a prayer in the Western Wall (the last remaining wall of the 2nd temple) in Jerusalem. Communing with God in prayer in your prayer closet is more sacred than any relic from a saint. The house church in China is more sacred than St. Peter’s basilica.
Sadly, Christians often completely miss this truth. The classic example of the southern woman dressing to the nines for church then returning home to gossip about the community members comes to mind. We slander fellow believers then come to church and worship together like nothing is wrong. We harbor resentment and fail to forgive believers, then wonder why we aren’t experiencing the presence of God. Failure to live out this truth has devastating consequences for the church’s holiness, witness, and unity.
*I often hear about how the temple of God is the collective church, not just the individual believer because the pronouns are plural in all of the above texts. However, the 1 Cor. 6:19 text is clearly referencing individual believer’s bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. Yes, the “you’s” are plural. But if I’m speaking to a large group communicating that each individual’s body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, I will still use the plural. So I think that’s what Paul is doing in 1 Cor. 6:19. Yet, there is still an emphasis on the community in most of the temple passages in the New Testament.
Reflection
Take some time today to perhaps reframe your perspective on sacred space. Whatever images come to your imagination when you think of sacred space, replace those images with fellow believers in Jesus.