ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
August 23, 2022
Guest Writer: Rev. Mariah Newell
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV)
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.
Thoughts: When I hear this Scripture, my mind often goes to food or clothing. I’ll explain. Often when “your body is a temple” is quoted it is used to remind someone that what we eat or what we wear either honors or dishonors the body that God has given to us. However, I would like us to put aside food and clothing (which actually is not mentioned at all in this text) and think about our Cypress Creek church buildings…our temple. Our church has a hole in the wall in the very back 3rd floor stairwell where the back door of the Loft hit the wall during a youth lock-in. Our church hosts the Art Ministry, Sunday School classes, string camps, Drama Kids, Choir, and handbells on the second floor of the Education Building. The Education Building first floor hosts laughing kids and safe visitation for parents who can’t see their children without supervision. The Centrum has baptisms, concerts, graduations, contests, funerals, weddings, and worship. The Forum has donuts, offices, recitals, snakes, magicians, gatherings to talk about sex trafficking prevention, annual program to honor MLK Jr, car shows, and food drives. There are scuffs on the walls in places. There are water lines on beams in the Centrum to remind us how high the flood waters were…And there’s writing behind the drywall in the Chapel from the members who lovingly built that place of prayer. If our bodies are like the buildings of Cypress Creek Christian Church they are holy and perfectly unique to us. They host everything in the spectrum of traditional to provocative. There is no other church building that has the same beauty, mission, and design. They don’t have our scars or our “construction zone” edges. However, because of and in spite of all the things I have listed, the Holy Spirit within us sparks all of the transformation we see and the love we give. Our church is not our own. It is given out to the community day after day after day. My personal opinion is we put limits on this Scripture. It has been thought of and talked about in one way for so long we haven’t let God speak new life into it. Our body is a temple. Our body is like the buildings of Cypress Creek Christian Church. I think we can all be proud to have bodies like that.
Prayer: God, continue to mold our bodies, as You mold Your churches, to love. We know each of our bodies are unique and have the opportunity to share Your goodness in diverse ways. Allow us to trust our bodies deeply and know that we are not moving them alone, but they are being moved in partnership with Your Holy Spirit. It is in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
