We talked this past Sunday about the contrast between
Phinehas and
Manasseh-one man with a passion for the holiness of the temple,
another willing to defile it in every way possible.
We applied these verses to our own lives-are we more like
Phinehas or Manasseh? We are told in
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 that we are the temple of God-that God
actually LIVES inside our bodies
through the Holy Spirit! So are we like Phinehas-passionate to
maintain the holiness of God's temple? Or, are we more like
Manasseh-willing to defile God's temple with all sorts of
idols?
As I talked to others about the sermon and as I thought it over
myself, I had these random idol thoughts left over.
Care for the body - I tried to bring
this in to the sermon on Sunday but probably not clearly enough. It
is of the utmost importance that we care for our bodies-they are
the temple of God. That doesn't just mean that we avoid sinful
activity with them. It means that we avoid anything that causes our
bodies harm or leads to unhealthiness. What we do to our bodies,
how we eat, how we act, and how we present ourselves (clothing,
hygiene, etc.) are all intricately tied into this truth that God
lives in my body and our body is the temple of God. This does
NOT mean that we cannot have any fun or
that we travel down the path of minimalism in order to avoid any
damage or harm to ourselves. We should always act in wisdom - we
should fervently rejoice in the blessings that God has given us.
Most care for the body has to do with balance.
God made me this way - But what about
those issues with our bodies (or even emotions, etc) that we have
no control over? If God made me, then didn't God make me this way
and I should embrace it? Well.yes and no. God does make us but in
making us He does so within the context of a sinful world. So, God
does author our lives yet at the same time He is not the author of
any sin. An example might be
John 9:3. Did God author blindness into this man's life? Yes.
Was God the author of a sinful world/environment/circumstances that
caused the blindness? No. God allowed the blindness in his life so
that God could be glorified through it. Thus, anytime we are
tempted to say, "I was made this way by God and so I can't do
anything about it" we should remember that everything in our
lives-both good and evil-are opportunities to glorify God. Thus,
the question is not so much 'What is God responsible for?' but
really, 'How are we using what God has authored in our lives to
bring about His glory?'
Idols at our entrance - I've been
attending Chip Price's Sunday School class on Ezekiel. I've asked
Chip to stop preaching my sermons before I do :) Actually, its neat
to see how God has orchestrated Chip's lessons and what we are
preaching about in the worship service that same day. A great
example is his lesson this past week on
Ezekiel 8. What struck me in his lesson was how he pointed out
that at the entrance of the temple stood an idol that caused
jealousy. It just struck me that in public communication we were
always taught that people only remember the first thing you say and
the last thing you say. So, there's this idol at the entrance, the
first thing seen when entering and the last thing seen when
leaving. Maybe the people even went inside to worship God. But on
their minds when the entered and left was this idol. Of course, the
application isn't that much different than the first question we
asked.what idol(s) stand at the entrance to God's temple
today.?