The Building Project of a Lifetime

 

T

he scene was becoming all too familiar.  Jesus found himself engaged in conversation with the religious leaders of his day who were convinced they had all knowledge concerning the things of God and he did not.  They were so confident they paid no heed to his words, his teaching, his examples, or his warnings.   

 

This is nowhere truer than in the confrontation concerning the temple, a lesson we ourselves would do well to heed today.  In John 2:20, we find this statement by the Jewish leaders, “The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?"  This was not the first time Jesus would encounter opposition within the very center of Jewish worship.  He would cleanse the temple of the moneychangers and those selling animals for sacrifices because God’s house had been turned into a place of business rather than a place of worship.  Sound familiar? 

 

In this particular instance, Jesus had commented that if the temple were torn down, he would restore it in three days.  The Jewish leaders mocked him, pointing to the fact it had taken forty-six years to build the temple and it was unlikely he could restore it in three days. As always, they missed the point of Jesus’ teaching because he was speaking of the temple of his body, not the building of stone before him. 

 

In today’s church, it becomes increasingly popular to build in stone and mortar.  We are constantly seeking to enlarge and improve our places of worship, offering as many programs and facilities as we can in order to reach the maximum number of people for Jesus Christ.  There is nothing wrong with building to increase the effectiveness and the work of the church as long as there is a plan, a purpose, a vision, and a clear call from God to do these things. 

 

This is where the religious leaders of Jesus’ day missed the mark.  When he spoke of destroying and rebuilding the temple, the leaders automatically pointed to the number of years they had spent in construction.  They probably gestured to the huge columns of stone and took great pride in the quality of the ongoing work.  The sad fact is, however, they had spent forty-six years, a lifetime, building a structure that was totally devoid of worship!  It was the building project of a lifetime, but the leaders had placed their faith in the building, not in the God it was designed to honor. 

 

Notice that Jesus moved the focus from the building to his body.  The New Testament tells us that our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit.  As Christians, we need to understand that God’s holy presence lives within us.  The Holy of Holies is no longer in a building; it is in the human heart.   God no longer dwells in a stone edifice; He lives within the very heart and soul of the believer.  Unfortunately, like the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, we run the risk of spending a lifetime giving the appearance of living a holy life when actually no worship of God is taking place within our own temples. 

 

As we walk with the Lord today, we must determine to live in way pleasing to Him, not to those around us.  We cannot afford to erect a temple that looks wonderful on the outside but is empty on the inside.  We cannot give the appearance of being God’s people when our hearts are far from Him.  Living the Christian life, recognizing our bodies are God’s temple, is the building project of a lifetime!  Shouldn’t we make sure that we are building with God’s purpose, with God’s vision, in accordance with God’s plan, and with a clear call of God upon our lives?  How does the construction of our walk with God fare with His design today?  Are we building a temple for Him or for ourselves?  That is indeed the question we must answer!