Our text for this week is Ephesians 2:21-22:
in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
By this Scripture we can understand that we do not automatically become the temple of the Lord, rather it is something we grow into. How do we do this? We must be built together with other believers.
One of the sure ways we can determine that we are being built into the temple of the Lord is by how our lives are being intermeshed with those of other believers. Church is not meant to be just a pile of living stones, but living stones that are fit together and cemented into their right places. Is this taking place in the congregation we are in? If not, why?
Church is not just a meeting—it is a life. As we covered earlier, the very first people to be called a cult were first century Christians. This is because the word "cult" was an abbreviated form of the word "culture," and they were such a completely different culture within the world at the time that they drastically stood out. Does our church make such an impact on our community? Why not?
Once we are born again and become a part of the new creation our identity with the new creation should be much stronger than any natural ties that we have. Natural families tend to grow further apart, though they may gather regularly to keep their identity and relationships. However, the family of God doesn’t just gather on holidays and special occasions to keep our relationships going—we gather continually. We gather to grow closer together, and our lives should be increasingly bonded together if we are growing into the temple we are called to be.
We must have a vision for our gatherings to be a time when the relationships within our congregations are built and strengthened. This is much more than just having people stand up for two minutes to greet each other. This is more than just having picnics and church socials, though these can be helpful. The temple of the Lord is called to be something more substantial than any other human relationships on earth.
How can our gatherings promote the building together of believers rather than just being meetings where the shepherds throw some food to the sheep? There are many practical ways we can do this, which will be a main focus of an upcoming conference that we are having in Charlotte. However, before we really understand the practical steps that are needed, we must receive the vision and heart for it. True church life is supposed to be an actual culture that is so wonderful, compelling, genuine, and real, that any who behold it are caused to marvel and wonder at it. When we have a true taste of this, we will not be able to get to the gatherings of God’s people often enough.
Every gathering is supposed to be an experience where we leave edified and are built together with others so we grow closer to them as well. Before the end of this age, there will be a true church life as it was intended to be demonstrated on the earth. It will be a society within society that is the richest and deepest of all human relationships on earth. However, even better than that will be the fact that we will be a temple for the Lord, and He will dwell among us. There is nothing that bonds people together stronger than experiencing the manifest presence of the Lord together. The Lord Himself is the true cement that holds His temple together. Even more important than getting closer to one another is getting closer to Him. If we truly are getting closer to the Lord, we will be getting closer to one another as well.