The Sacred
“When the fire came down and God’s glory filled the temple, would you have considered taking a sledgehammer and striking the temple? Of course not! Then why are we so quick to gossip, slander leadership, and divide the church…Paul explained that God’s temple is sacred, and we—collectively—are that temple. Every time you speak evil about a member of the Church, it is like taking a sledgehammer to the temple.”
I grew up in a church that had a high view of the Bible. Maybe not as elevated as some churches—I never considered scripture to be a god in and of itself—but a high view nonetheless. I was taught scripture was the primary way in which God communicated to God’s people, that we held in our hands the living and inspired word of God. The Bible was important.
Another item I (like most kids) was taught held significant importance was the American flag. In school we had to pledge our allegiance every morning, and as a boy scout for a brief period of time, I had to learn all of the rules surrounding the flag. I’m not going to get into the conversation of Christian nationalism here—that’s not the purpose of this post. The relevant point here is that with the flag I was taught it can never touch the ground. In my kid brain, that meant any item of significant importance could never touch the ground. This translated to a deep discomfort I felt any time I saw a Bible on the ground. This is the holy word of God, it should be treated even better than the American flag!
While my faith and understanding has grown significantly since the time I was afraid to put a Bible on the ground, I believe this story reminds me of a simple truth—we protect and take care of that which we consider sacred. Most Christians would never think of damaging or destroying a Bible, or a cross, or a church. Those in the Eastern Orthodox tradition would be horrified if their iconography was damaged or vandalized. Those of us who ‘worship’ money wouldn’t think of ripping a dollar in half. Those of us caught in an unhealthy infatuation with a spouse or lover would do anything we could to protect that person.
So why do we so often tear others down? Why do we cheat or lie or steal or slander other people?
As Francis Chan writes in the quote at the beginning of this blog, every member of the Church (i.e. every baptized Christian) collectively serves the same sacred purpose as the temple did in ancient Jewish culture. The temple was a space where heaven and earth were thought to intersect—it was a sacred and holy space in which one would come into the physical presence of God. As members of the Church we are each filled by the Holy Spirit. In other words, we each are a space through which the presence of God is made known. We each are an intersection of heaven and earth. We each are sacred.
Beyond that, every human being, Christian or not, carries in them the image of God. Each person is made in God’s image, in the image of the sacred. We each reflect that sacred image by simply being human. The image of God is part of our identity. Just like the purpose of the Bible is to point us towards God, the image of God reflected in each of us points us towards our creator. In this way, all of humanity should be considered sacred.
As Francis Chan writes, every time we lie or cheat or gossip or slander we might as well be ripping pages out of the Bible or taking a sledgehammer to our local church. It’s time we start truly seeing each other as sacred—both as temples of the Holy Spirit and as holders of the image of God. And in seeing each other in this sacred light, maybe it will start to change how we treat the people around us.