Oct. 18

Read 1 Corinthians 3

^16-17You realize, don't you, that you are the temple of God, and God himself is present in you? No one will get by with vandalizing God's temple, you can be sure of that. God's temple is sacred—and you, remember, are the temple. (The Message)

Paul reminds us in a variety of ways in his writing that we are made in the image of God and should never loose sight of that reality. I think we need this reminder on a regular basis because the truth is that we don't remember. We don't think about our bodies and minds being the place in which God dwells.
I've been through the church fights about what is or is not acceptable to take into the sanctuary. I've heard the debates about whether coffee cups should be allowed into the sanctuary and I don't want to even talk about the arguments over electric guitars and drums. There is a place for respect and reverence in a church sanctuary that I can completely agree with (without going completely overboard). But there is also a place for respecting our own bodies and minds that we often times forget about.
How you view the things that goes into your body and mind say a lot about how you understand the place where God dwells. I'm not suggesting that we go to the extremes of past generations in never going to a movie, not dancing, etc. I think those efforts were an attempt to limit the influence of worldly values without necessarily understanding the total impact of the rules. It could be time to take another look at not trying to legislate behavior but rather to bring awareness once more of the impact that the world has on the place where God dwells within us.

Some thoughts to ponder and share with others:

• What do you think is not appropriate in a church's worship space?
• When was the last time you thought about God living within you? Why did this come to mind?
• What do you allow to come into your body or mind that might not be appropriate to bring into a sanctuary?
• What one thing do you need to stop allowing access to your body and mind that might be taking you away from God rather than drawing you closer to God?