The Church – God’s Temple
This is day one of our Legacy Grandparenting Conference. The first general session begins this afternoon and concludes on Thursday afternoon. I’m not sure why they didn’t build in “nap time” into the schedule!?
BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY…  “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.” 1 Corinthians 3:16,17 NIV
Where does God dwell? We know that He is not confined to space and time. But we see that Paul says, the “our bodes are the temples of the Holy Spirit.” As such we should honor and glorify God with our bodies. He presents this concept as he warns against immorality and using our bodies to sin.
But Paul also uses the metaphor of God’s temple in reference to the Church. The “you” are God’s temple is in the plural form. So we see the translation of “you yourselves.” As such this places God’s people joined as “The Church” apart from other organizations. There are human organizations and there are divine organizations. God established the family and the church. `
Paul calls this to the attention of the Corinthian believers, because of the division among them. This was especially seen in those who took pride in identifying with various leader. Specifically there were those who had been influence by Paul, Apollos, and Peter. Then not be to out done by human personality, the “super spiritual” among them said, “we only follow Christ.” It is interesting how people will construct divisions when either none exist other than in the minds of those people.
The bottom line is that this attitude was causing division among the church. There was an attitude of if you don’t revere the spiritual leader that I do, you are less than a true believer. Sound familiar to what I have observed over the years in those who would claim that a particular teacher has, “the truth” or a unique insight into the Bible possessed by none other.
There are two points that Paul makes. One is that every servant of the Lord, is a fellow worker in “God’s vineyard” building up “God’s Building” upon the foundation of Christ. Each has a different role and function; but they all contribute to a unified effort.  “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.” (1 Corinthians 3:5,6 NIV)
The second point is if you are causing division in the church, you are putting yourself at risk. “If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person…” That is a warning that should be headed by every person who has felt the need to sow seeds of discontent and harm the unity of the Church, whether by action or attitude. Much harm has been done to churches and individuals by those who were not aware of or ignored this admonition from scripture.
We see Paul’s focus on unity in the church when he addresses spiritual gifts and says, “Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church.” (1 Corinthians 14:12 NIV)
Christ has established His church to be an agent of hope, healing and health in this world. That is a huge task, that requires consistent focus on not just human plans and goals, but on what the Lord says our mission is to be and how it is to be carried out. However, it takes place, it is to be in unity.
Prayer for today…Â Lord, thank You for Your Church. Enable You people who are joined together in common obedience and faith, reflect the unity that You desire and that is found in and possible only through You.