Could building medical clinics be the rebuilding of the Temple?

Today’s message in the church that I attend was on the temple and the fact that Christ dwells among us IN the temple. Meaning that WE are the temple and Christ is dwelling inside of us and the radicalness of this concept. He talked through the Old Testament where people could not catch simply a glimpse of the Presence of God and yet now Christ dwells inside of us.

As I contemplated this message some things about the Church and the rebuilding of the Temple came to mind. Now, I’m not a theologian or a scholar. But in the time of Jesus He talked about how the Temple would be raised in 3 days and the scholars of the day were very focused on the literal infrastructure and missed that Jesus was talking about Himself. Here they were in the very Presence of Christ and yet they missed the mark altogether because they failed to see how God was moving right in front of them.

I hear of many churches that are focused on end time scenarios and they spend much time studying the Words of the scripture and speculating about the physical rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. Many even spend great amounts of money to tour their congregation through the land (which is an amazing experience). They watch the political scene between Israel and Palestine and are awaiting the literal rebuilding of the Temple.

So I had this radical idea that perhaps the Church leaders of our day might be missing it too. If indeed WE are the Temple then perhaps it’s really about God building up His people as the Temple as opposed to the literal structure in Israel. Again, I’m not a scholar, but what I am is a quiet observer of watching how the Holy Spirit moves.

In my job as a Distribution Center of aid, we don’t dictate what projects need to be done next, we ask for people from communities to apply to us and we listen to how God is moving in their community. Because of this I meet with people on a regular basis from all over the world. While God does move different in different cultures, I’m actually amazed by some of the similarities. Many of the missionaries and non-profits come to us with stories from their communities about the poor and the meek. I hear stories of children dying at the age of two because they contracted a parasite and there were no medicines available. I hear stories of ten year old girls tricked into sex slavery and later rescued but not having the means to become healthy physically, spiritually and emotionally. I hear stories of twelve year old boys kidnapped at night and forced to kill in rebel armies. And then I hear the stories of the advocates on the front lines, quietly fighting to make things just a little bit better in the place where they live. So while each story is unique, the lack of access to the needed resources is consistent, and the steadfast people working behind the scenes where God has called them is consistent.

So I wonder, is God already building the Temple right now through these people and communities? Is THIS the Temple? Maybe instead of a physical brick being laid that brick is representative of a new school, shelter, or medical clinic that is erected? Maybe God is building His Temple right now with a bunch of ordinary people and the scholars of today are looking and waiting for that physical manifestation that may never be?

I’m not saying this is what is. But I wonder, if this were true, would we live our lives any different? What if instead of being spectators waiting for the Temple, we had an active part in building it? What if going into hard places and spending time in physical labor was an active part of building the Temple? What if every dollar that we spent providing life-saving medicines or every student that we sponsored to have an education meant that the Temple was a little bit further along? Would we live our lives any different as Christians? Would we see that we have a greater responsibility to rebuild the Temple then one of spectator simply awaiting someone else to do the work? I wonder.

Just so I’m clear, I’m not advocating any kind of works-based theology. But what I do try to do is to challenge Christians to take their Bible seriously. Faith without works is dead. So if you are a Christian, as you listen to God and watch the Holy Spirit move, let me know if you see what I see. Is God doing something unique in our time? What is He doing? And what is the part you play? Are we working together towards building the Temple? Or are we simply waiting for the Temple to be built?