“he … bakes bread; indeed he makes a god and worships it” (Is 44:15, NKJ)
Yesterday’s word compels us to redefine our whole definition of church and of our participation in church. We should know that the church building has got NOTHING to do with being the church. In the Old Testament there is much reference to the “house of the Lord”. This phrase, however, does not even occur once in the New Testament. In the Old Covenant the church/temple/tabernacle was often the place where God’s presence was and where He could be served; in the New Covenant God’s children are actually the tabernacles (John 1:14; 1 Cor 3:16). Indeed then, as Acts 7:48 states: the Most High does not dwell in temples made with the hands of men. In the Old Testament one could say with David: “Let us go up to the house of the Lord!”, but in the New Covenant the church building is not necessarily the place where God is present. Those who visit cathedrals and convents and get goose bumps don’t get those goose bumps from the presence of God there. For this reason many of the early congregations rather met “from house to house” (Acts 2:46; 5:42), there where the normality of life was evident – indeed: “in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).
Because believers are the Body, there is an inevitable longing in us to share the bread of His Presence. This is why we come together. But unfortunately our coming together is often dictated to by religious considerations and we begin to be prescriptive regarding clothing, behaviour, what can be preached, who may preach, when we sing, stand, sit, walk, how much money we must give, what is acceptable, and what is not, etcetera, etcetera. Before long the revelation has become an organisation and on one good day we realise: in this organised meeting there are so many human fingerprints that God has inevitably withdrawn.
If you don’t worship the true God, then you often worship who you think God is. And often religion is worshiped (Rom 1:23). The Israelites saw God’s miracles, but they quickly succumbed to the worship of two self-made golden calves, which they even called Jehovah (Ex 32:4-5)! Bethlehem, in Greek: house of bread, is, unfortunately, very often a den of thieves (Mark 11:17).
- Sela: Ask God to renew your thoughts in terms of being the church. Reflect on what you are part of.
- Read: Judg 2; Ps 92; Acts 2
- Memorise: Acts 2:38
- Going deeper: Read chapter 7 of Rick Joyner’s book Shadows of things to come.
