New recurring series: Church Near Me
The most common Google search for someone looking for a church is “church near me”. This is the third in a three post series.
It could when we search for a church, we don’t find something compelling. If you’ve searched for a church in Chorlton, maybe you saw something you were interested in, maybe not. The real question is what are we searching for? The Bible teaches us that the church is joined by Jesus, raised by Jesus, and built by Jesus.
“In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”
A Rising Temple
Jesus joins us together
Humans need a deep connection with each other. Anyone feel lonely or isolated over lockdown? You might have thought it was just you (that’s what the definition of isolated is, anyway!). Jesus welcomes us as we are, but doesn’t leave us that way. He joins us together.
Now notice that it’s Jesus who is doing the joining. Good leadership doesn’t join us together, good events don’t, good relationships with each other don’t. Those are all good things, necessary things for sure, but insufficient things for a church to be truly joined together.
Jesus raises us together
We also learn from God that Jesus raises us together. Ephesians 2:21: "In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord." Paul could have stopped with that first metaphor, but he adds this second one. Why is that? And it’s striking: a rising temple. Humans need a deep purpose in life. Jesus raises us.
Chorlton has loads of events, loads of community groups, from knitting to other languages, to football, all sorts. I love that about where we live. And some of these groups will be able to offer community and friendship. I bet some people will see church as one option among many for community and friendship. But the church, here in this verse, is being described as something more than that. Not less than community or friendship, but something more.
A temple is the symbol of God’s presence. When the temple was first built by Solomon in Jerusalem in the OT, way way way back, the Bible says the glory of the Lord filled it. Of course God is everywhere all the time, but there was something felt, something palpable in the temple as His presence filled it. It was overwhelming, so overwhelming in fact, that the priests had to stop their worship service. Imagine that today1
A temple is a space of worship. That’s what it’s made for, God made it easy to worship Him, so he created a place to do it. But Paul is talking about a people. So that means the “space of worship” isn’t a building, isn’t an event, it exists in the relationships we have with God and each other together. That’s what Jesus has joined together.
A temple is also where heaven and earth meet. In the Old Testament, God is often described as residing in heaven…the main exception being His temple. The temple is where God and man meet, where heaven and earth are connected. We don’t have time to do this, but the imagery in the temple, all the art, the furniture, had exactly this, images of heaven and earth mixed together.
What could a rising temple look like, as a church in Chorlton? What could that look like for a church in Manchester?
Jesus builds us together
Now let’s focus on here on the verb: “being built together”. The previous point is more of a future orientation, a vision for what we could be. Here, we get down to the present. What’s going on now. And we are “being built together” by Jesus. We haven’t already been built. We aren’t doing the building. Humans don’t have it all together, all of us need help, Jesus builds us together.
This is something anyone can get in on. Anyone can be part of this rising temple. Any can get in on this, whether you’ve been a Christian since forever or just become one now. This verse teaches that we are passive, we are in progress, we are plural.
Passive in that Jesus is doing the heavy lifting. It’s not like we don’t work, but our work is enabled through His. And we need His words to tell us what to do and how to live. We are in progress means we aren’t finished. We are all renovations in process, and that should lead us to humility. We are plural refers to the fact that these verses aren’t talking about our individual walks with Jesus, true as that may be, it’s referring to the church. We have a pluralised identity. The only way a temple will rise is if the bricks are joined well together. The only hope you can have to live into God’s big purpose is to surrender to His work in building us together.
In all of this, it is so clear that the church we are searching for is all about Jesus. We are joined together in him. Connected to each other and to Him. We rise together in him. He has given us a purpose that we live out towards each other and for Him. We are being built together in him. Works of progress that Jesus, through His Spirit, allows us to work out together and in Him.
This temple rises because He has risen! This is one reason the resurrection matters. Without Chris’t resurrection, we could never become members of the Father’s family. Without Christ’s resurrection, we could never become a home for the Holy Spirit. Without the risen Christ behind it all, this temple wouldn’t rise.
It’s all in Him.