The State of our Temples

Temples are places where people meet with their god(s). There are temples of all sorts, through the ages and all over the world. I am suggesting that in America, we should look where people have congregated, and notice what is happening.

One of the most remarkable of our secular temples is the shopping mall. People come from all over to see what is offered; to get what they want. The god? Materialism. We leave with our shopping bags, and we are fulfilled.

Now, caveats. Not everyone who goes to a mall is involved in idolatrous worship. But many are, though they don’t know it. Hear what they say: “It’s been so long since I’ve been to a mall;” or, “I just feel refreshed when I shop at the mall.”

But as we know, the mall is in decline. And if I am right, that this is one facet of our society’s secular worship, we should have expected its decline, since only God can truly satisfy.

Our stadiums also serve as places of secular worship. Fans are extremely passionate about their “god,” their local team in this form of entertainment. They spend a lot of time thinking about what they worship (e.g., all day sports radio). And the amount of money spent for tickets and paid to players and coaches shows that there is something more than “market forces” going on here. People sacrifice a great deal to be a part of the “team.” And while malls may be in decline, sports are getting on just fine. Their religion is growing.

It is interesting that churches have looked to shopping mall and sports stadiums to find “what works” for church growth. If they can get that many people, perhaps we can do the same. Fly a drone overhead, and you might have a hard time telling the difference between Twelve Oaks and Kensington Church. Or how about renting out a sports stadium, as Lakewood Church in Texas has done? And, one could wonder if there isn’t elements of materialism and entertainment that draws people, who should be gathering to worship, not out of hunger for those things, but rather, hunger for God.

But we know our Temple, right? Jesus is the cornerstone; believers as the “living stones.” It is not church buildings, and it is not what churches have to offer. It’s not the Place (or Program); it’s the Person, along with those related to Him by faith in who He is and what He has done.

This is the Way; Walk In It

Our men’s breakfast speaker has emphasized “simple” approaches in the face of complicated lives. He has applied this to prayer and Bible reading. Scripture applies it to all of life. Here it is: “This is the way; walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21).

This simple instruction appears in a complicated chapter. But it is not God who does the complicating. It is us. It is us when we rebel; it is us when we listen and follow the world. It is us when we clog up our lives with too many other things. It is us when we re-shape our religion to suit and serve ourselves rather than to do things God’s way. 

So what does God do? He sends us a Teacher. Some of our English translations capitalize this word: Teacher. We know what that means. Our Teacher is Jesus, whom the Father has sent to us, to Save us and to Teach us - who says to us: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me” (John 14:6). 

So what is He saying? Simply, He says this: “Follow Me.” “This is the Way; Walk in it.”

We may object and say that it’s not that simple. But be careful. “Simple” and “easy” are not the same things (I told you it was a complicated chapter). Along with the simple statement, “This is the way; walk in it,” is also this statement: “Though the Lord may give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction..” (Is 30:20). That’s not easy. But the instruction is still simple: “This is the way; walk in it.”

You notice that I didn’t finish the sentence above. Following the “though” phrase, there is a “yet” phrase: “Though the Lord may give you the bread of adversity or the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore.” That is, the more tested we are; the more our concerns mount; the more our fears increase - the more there will be sense of the presence of our Savior as we seek to follow the instruction: “this is the way; walk in it.” That is, as we seek to walk in Jesus’ shadow, aware of His gentle love, praying to display His gracious character, begging Him for His shepherding care and supernatural healing of our minds and our bodies; our churches and our families; our hearts and our souls.

When life is hard, don’t make it complicated. It’s a call to that which is simple. Talk to Jesus. He knows. He cares. “This is the way; walk in it.”