Wednesday, March 14, 2007
DO NOT RUN IN CHURCH
Maybe we should recover some of the sacredness of our Temples, i.e., church buildings. My son, Austin, who is two is not allowed to run in the sanctuary. He can run in the hall and in the fellowship center, but not in the place where we gather for corporate worship. Jesus would not let those carrying merchandise use the Temple mount as a short-cut, for that place is holy. Also, Jesus ran off those who were exploiting the poor and those robbers who found asylum on the Temple grounds. As I began to process the lecture, I began to ask myself if I really viewed the place I attended church as holy or just a building to keep the weather out. And why I did not let me son run in the sanctuary? Was this just because I did not want people talking bad about me as a parent, "Can you believe that Michael let Austin run through here?". I need to learn a deeper respect for those things that have been set apart for God's use. Not that my church building on Sunday morning is the only place that I can encounter God, but I should come there with this expectation and a reverent respect for that place. To often what happens on Sundays has been reduced to a social gathering of the saints, some feel good advice on some vague topic, and watching a choir perform. What would happen if when we gathered we came with fear and trembling, and the expectation that this place is truly the house of the Lord?
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2 comments:
Michael, you have no idea how close i am with the way you are being lead to feel. Each week i worry about the fact that my children may break something in church while running around, because I don't want anyone to say anything bad about me, i never worry about breaking something because it is God's House and that the ground on which it stands is Holy. I too, am guilty of forgetting that the building is not just a building, but that it truly is God's House and that it should recognized as Holy and Sacred, deserving ultimate recognition as the "Temple Mount" worthy of safe guarding and reverence.
I've been raised in church and I can remember when I was younger being told not to this or that in the sanctuary. Now that I am older, I better understand the reverence that i need to observe while at church. It's not just a building. As I teach classes at church in Florida and here in Arkansas, I interact a great deal with younger children. Fortunately, most of the parents of these children have taught them the importance of the matter we're discussing. I have taught this lesson a couple of times to young children, and each time I wonder if they truly understand the importance. I know it is easy, even as adults, to think of our church as just another building...but it's not. It's a place of worship, and a place of respect for God.
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