“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.”  (Acts 17:24)

“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?” (1 Corinthians 3:16)

Yet many churches subscribe to Old Covenant misconceptions in New Covenant times.  Post Pentecost, the Holy Spirit indwells believers.  Temples could never contain God, but Christ’s followers are His “temples”.  When churches invest more in constructing buildings than disciples, they’ve lost sight of the intent and definition of “church”.  It’s not a place or pastor, contrary to popular opinion skewed by decades of centering church around pulpits and personalities.

Peter, speaking to all Christians declared, “you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9)  You, and we, are the Church – and the Holy Spirit lives in us.  Satisfaction with organizational growth, often without or at the expense of personal growth, conveys confusion about the Holy Spirit’s residence.  When we deem a church “healthy” by numerical and financial standards, not the Christ-likeness of its members, we misunderstand and misrepresent what (and who) is the church.  Wherever the Holy Spirit lives is what (or who) we need to ensure becomes or remains healthy.

By all accounts, whether measured in terms of growth, influence, impact, and perception, the health of the capital “C” Church in America is in decline.  The more the organization tries to eat right (consume advice from “successful” church leaders), work out (implement “best practice” principles), and visit the doctor (church growth consultants) the unhealthier it becomes.  If it would have simply died to the “self” of concern about institutional viability and poured its resources into member vitality, the Church would flourish collectively and concomitantly.

Acting as if church buildings are the proverbial “temple” has also undermined the spiritual health of churchgoers and our society as a whole.  “Come” churches far outnumber “go” churches – attracting, inviting, and retaining rather than empowering, equipping, and sending.  Church leaders cater to their needs and usurp their responsibilities, hoping they’ll come back next Sunday.  As a result of being treated as consumers of church rather than its embodiment, over half of Christians see their faith as private.  Only 5% are individually discipling someone else.  One percent of pastors think American churches are discipling new believers well.  Only 6% of Christians in the U.S. possess a biblical worldview.  And 95% have never led someone to Christ.  Not surprisingly, violence and divisiveness abound in an American culture that increasingly walks away from Jesus and devalues human life.

What would it look like for church leaders to build New Covenant “temples” (of the Holy Spirit)?  The construction process for building a physical church consists of planning, laying the foundation, erecting load bearing walls, covering with a roof, installing plumbing and electrical, mounting windows and doors, and putting on the finishing touches like paint and lighting.  The process for making a disciple of Jesus Christ doesn’t look much different, but has the potential for far greater Kingdom impact by housing the Holy Spirit:

1. Plans – It’s an exciting time in the life of a church plant when it finally attains the high-water mark of enough members to start planning a building project.  It’s also the point at which fixed costs and debt tempt leaders to cling to congregants and kowtow to their demands and preferences.  For the true “temples”, the planning process for making disciples reorients objectives around their needs, not their wants.  Goals and strategies are put in place for life and community transformation, not attendance and giving.  Expectations shift from pastor to member “performance” in evangelism and discipleship.
2. Foundation – If churches were the “temples” of the Holy Spirit, Christians could rely on the organization’s firm foundation, not needing to be as grounded in faith, trust, and obedience.  Congregants could live how they wanted between Sundays without worrying about grieving the Holy Spirit, clean up and repent when inside the church building, and invite people to a worship service to encounter the Lord.  That Old Testament paradigm conceived by religious power brokers was the foremost target of Jesus’ ire.  But New Testament churches disseminate ministerial responsibilities to the true “temples” of the Holy Spirit.
3. Load Bearing Walls – Any solid structure must support a roof and withstand natural disasters.  Those are certainly considerations when constructing a church, but are disciples being built to hold up under pressure?  Evidence shows most churchgoers in America struggle when facing challenges and opposition.  We’re not accustomed to persecution and often respond to even gentle pushback with silence, avoidance, or divisiveness.  We haven’t been trained well to be courageous, take risks, sacrifice, and answer objections to the Gospel.  That was clear during COVID when the church buildings’ doors were closed.
4. Roof – There’s power in the collective prayer covering of a single church.  However, prayer gatherings are less frequent and pervasive than the covering of dispersed disciples practicing prayer, care, and share seven days a week. The Holy Spirit intercedes and fuels passionate prayer of faithful believers from the inside out.  Jesus taught His disciples to pray, but Old Covenant churches worry about asking or expecting members to regularly practice spiritual disciplines.  The net effect is too many uncovered Christians getting soaked by driving rainstorms without ample prayer protection through the Holy Spirit.
5. Plumbing/Electrical – Constructing a comfortable, convenient church requires piping and wiring to ensure water and electrical currents flow where needed.  Yet building the actual “temple” of the Holy Spirit involves wiring people to become “pastors” of their neighborhoods and workplaces.  “Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.” (John 14:4)  We want that water to leak into social circles, and currents of the Spirit’s power to spark revival in communities.  As long as inflows (to the building) are of greater concern than outflows, God’s love won’t travel through true “temples” to reach the church’s intended “customer”, many of whom refuse to enter a church.
6. Windows/Doors – Drawing attention to a “temple” that occupies a small footprint and doesn’t house the Holy Spirit diverts attention from the “temples” (where the Spirit resides) who live, serve, and work across a city.  A church without windows and doors to the outside world is dark inside.  Jesus repeatedly emphasized the importance of compassion and His heart for those experiencing poverty.  Few churches dedicate more than 1% of their annual budgets or energy to local missions, prioritizing the welfare of the brick-and-mortar “temple” over the souls of would-be flesh-and-blood “temples”.
7. Finishing Touches – Paint and lighting make a church aesthetically attractive, but “temples” shining brightly everywhere they go are more alluring.  A church fully adopting that philosophy would have to radically reallocate resources and risk losing consumers to less demanding churches down the road.  Yet sometimes getting healthier requires losing weight.  Those too committed to Jesus to run for the exits when challenged will love one another and their neighbors well, revitalizing a stagnant congregation.

Churches, Christians, and our Culture in America will flourish when we return to the biblical definitions of “church” as people (not a place), “customers” as those who don’t know Jesus, “churchgoers” as Kingdom employees commissioned to pursue them, and “disciples” (not churches) as the “temples” we should focus on building by the power of the Holy Spirit.

It’s Your Turn…

Is your church’s health suffering from an apparent misconception about where the Holy Spirit resides, investing more in building a “temple” than making disciples?