Living In God's Holy Temple

God has given me the acronym LIGHT, or Living In God's Holy Temple, as a way to share the vision for our Church, but to fully understand what God is saying to us, we need to ask ourselves some questions.

First, What is the Church? We often view the Church as a building, a place we go to, but in a book I read recently, the author (Jon Ashcraft) pointed out that the early Church did not have this view. He states, "the early church was not a group of part-time believers who showed up on Sunday to hear a sermon and then return to their normal lives." The Church is no longer a place. It is a people. So, the next question we need to ask ourselves is, "am I living in God's holy temple?" Does my life reflect the fact that God lives in me? Paul asks us, "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?" (1 Corinthians 6:19) As faithful followers of Jesus, we are the house where the Spirit of God lives. Far too often, we have the wrong mindset. We compartmentalize things and feel like we have Christian activities and secular activities. The truth is that every we go and whatever we are doing is Christian because of what Jesus has done in us. We are new creations in Christ Jesus!

On the other hand, we often see the building as something sacred. A good question to ask yourself is, "are there things that I do in other places in public that I would not do in the church building?" If the answer is yes, then why? The Church building is only a structure where we have set aside a place for the Church to come together and fellowship with God, but our bodies are where God lives. Are we living the life that we are supposed to in our bodies, or are we playing this thing called Church on Sundays and Wednesdays? People need authenticity. The need to know God is real, and we are the ones reflecting God to the world around us. How we live matters.

Paying close attention to the first word in this acronym is also essential. Living! We must live. Jesus said, "I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly" (John 10:10b). As Christians, we must have lives full of Joy. "In His presence is fullness of joy" (Ps 16:11), so if we are the temple of God, then we should be full of joy. People need to see us full of life and that living holy is not a drag are full of fear and anxiety, scared that we will fail God. They also don't need judgemental people who think they are better than others. These concepts are not living in God's holy temple. The whole point is that as we live this way, we will shine and share the light of Jesus.

In the original temple, there was a lamp stand. A light was to be burning in the temple, so that holy things were visible. Are the things of God visible in your life? Are you shining your light? I have asked you many questions, but my goal is to challenge you. Hebrews tells us to "provoke one another to love and good works" (Heb 10:24). Let us live in the LIGHT! The world needs us to.