The Church is not God's Temple- part 2

In part one, we began looking at an erroneous teaching which has become very popular in much of America: the church is God’s house or the church is the temple of God. We established that the likely reason this misconception arose is due to confusion over the Old Testament teachings regarding the Temple of Israel. We also established some strange beliefs, and rules, that religious people create for church buildings when the temple teachings are imposed on the church buildings. To clarify terms in this note, my use of the phrase “religious people” is not synonymous with a biblical Christian. “Religious people” more closely resemble the Pharisees in the New Testament, in that they impose man made rules and traditions on others as a requirement for salvation, church membership, and fellowship.

In the New Testament, the word “temple” still refers to a dwelling place for God. Further, the New Testament teaches that God still lives in a temple. So, why is the church building not this temple? I spoke of a wonderful reality in the last paragraph of part 1. The wonderful reality is this: in the New Testament there is a radical change in where God lives. 1Corinthians 3:16 explains this change; “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” 1Corinthians 3:17 teaches that God’s temple is still to be a holy dwelling place, but now the temple is no longer a building. God’s temple is you. 1Corinthians 6:19 says, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?”

God no longer lives in a building. He lives in believers. Meditate on that. It’s huge! This has implications for both the buildings and the people. As far as the buildings go, they are bricks and mortar. There is nothing special about them. There is nothing holy about the inside of the buildings, nor do any of the objects inside have any special significance. God does not live in churches. In fact, God does not set foot in the buildings unless a believer walks inside. The altar is not holy ground which only certain people can step on because an altar is a place to make sacrifices. Hopefully, we don’t still have altars. Hebrews 9:24-28 teaches that Jesus has offered himself up, once and for all as the final perfect sacrifice. We do not need to sacrifice animals any longer; therefore there is no need for an altar. Dress codes are a tradition born out of preference. God doesn’t care about the way a person looks on the outside. God cares about our heart. Jesus addressed this very same issue in Matthew 23:25-33. Silence is reverent in some traditions (Psalm 46:10), in others loud, joyous praise is in order (2Samuel 6:14-15; Psalm 150). Sadly, the first point we often miss is this: silence is rotten if the heart is rotten. Loud, joyous praise is rotten if the heart is rotten. Suits and ties are rotten if the heart is rotten. Cut off jeans and tank-top shirts are rotten if the heart is rotten. The second point we miss is this: anything—yes, this includes every tradition we’ve ever had or will ever have—that we worship other than God is idolatry (Ex. 20:3-6; Deut. 5:7-9). The subtle trap behind this is: religious people worship buildings and man-made traditions and rules; Christians worship Jesus. 

God does not live in buildings any longer. He lives in believers. The implications of this for people are enormous. Missing this point could very well mean the difference between heaven and hell, and we will look at that in part 3. And because not every tradition is bad, we will look at how Christians should handle traditions in part 4.

The Church is not God's Temple- part 1

First, to clarify terms, the word “church” in this note refers to a building. Second, I am fully aware that the word “church” in the Bible never once refers to a building. The problem is that somewhere along the line, people began wrongly believing that the church buildings we see on the side of the road are what the Bible is talking about when it uses the word “church.” Because of this widespread misconception, many people began to believe that the church building is some sort of holy place. A popular false teaching, still somewhat prevalent in our day, is that the church is God’s house, or that the church is the temple of God. It may not seem like a big deal but the implications of believing this error can mean the difference between heaven and hell.

First, it helps to understand what the Bible means when it uses the word temple. Throughout the Old and the New Testament, there are basically two different meanings behind the word “temple.” The first meaning refers to something (or someone) that is sacred, consecrated, or set apart. Examples of this usage are: temple servants (1Chr. 9:2), vessels for temple service (Jer. 52:18), and officers of the temple (Luke 22:52). The second meaning, which is far more common, refers to a dwelling place for God or a god. The main example of this throughout the Bible is the temple of Jerusalem which is likely where the confusion about church buildings begins.

In the Old Testament, the Jewish people had a magnificent temple which started as a traveling tabernacle during the Exodus out of Egypt. God gave Moses very detailed instructions as to how he was to construct this tabernacle along with all of the holy instruments to be used for worship in the temple. When it was completed, God came down from heaven and took up residence there. Because God lived inside this temple, the entire structure was a very holy place. People were restricted access to certain areas, sacrifices were brought there daily because it was where God lived, and there was a great reverence which surrounded the place.

Many people mistake our modern church buildings with the Old Testament temple and wrongly transfer Old Testament teachings regarding the temple onto the church. When a person does this, any number of strange beliefs can result. Some believe that the church is God’s house and that God actually lives there. Some believe that it is a holy place which must be held in great reverence. Some believe the objects inside have some magical, sacred property and must be handled in a certain manner. Some believe that people should be restricted access to certain parts of the building (i.e. the area called the “altar.”) Some believe that people should conduct themselves in a certain manner (i.e. no hats, no drinks, no talking, get dressed up, etc.) The list of rules, developed by religious people (not Christians) goes on and on.

The fact of the matter is: all of these rules would still apply to a church building if it really was still a holy place where God lived. Thankfully, the Bible is very clear that the church building is not God’s house and we will look at that wonderful reality in part 2.