The Temple of God

Years ago, when I was a theological college student serving a church, I was approached by a 15-year-old boy who belonged to another congregation. He wanted to know if it was all right to smoke. I asked him, ‘What does your minister say?’  He answered, ‘That’s just it. He tells me not to smoke but doesn’t give me a reason.’ We talked about how scripture proclaims that we are God’s temple and that he would have to decide whether or not he would be destroying God’s temple by smoking. Two weeks later he came to tell me that he had decided not to smoke.

Each day we are faced with decisions regarding our relationship to God. These decisions may not be a physical issue such as smoking. They may relate to our Christian stewardship, our relationship to others or issues at work. The decisions we make determine whether we are building or destroying God’s temple. ‘What would Jesus do?’ is a question for each of us to ask as we determine whether our decisions will destroy or honour God’s temple.