Franco Colombu back in the day
The Defiled Temple
One of the most heinous sins in the Old Testament was to “defile the Temple”. Prior to the coming of Christ, worship centered on the Temple and it represented the place where God dwelt. One could defile the Temple by offering improper sacrifices, worshipping with unrepented sin, or a whole host of other prohibited acts.
Once Jesus came and established the New Covenant, the Temple changed from a geographical location to a biological one-the heart and soul of the redeemed person. So in a very real way, you are the Temple in which the Spirit of God dwells. Paul said it like this,
“Or do you not know that 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. So glorify God in your body.” I Corinthians 6. 19-20
Of course the immediate context of this passage is that Christians should refrain from sexual immorality. However, the truth of the body as a temple of the Holy Spirit can be applied to how we treat and care for our physical bodies. How you take care of your “earthen vessel” is as much a part of stewardship as how you treat your finances.
So, I was thinking about this issue today and these are just some random thoughts about some of the things we do to defile our temples. I will restrict these thoughts to the physical body but you may make some appropriate parallel applications to your mind and spirit.
You defile your temple by:
1. Not exercising it. God made our bodies for movement, to be used and made stronger and kept supple so that we can serve Him. There are basically three things you need in a good overall fitness program:
a. Aerobic Conditioning. This is for heart, lung and circulatory wellness. Aerobic conditioning is anything that gets you breathing and raises your heart rate. Walking, running, swimming, biking, dancing, are all examples of aerobic activities.
b. Strength Training. This means resistance training to build muscle and bone density. Lifting weights, working with elastic bands, calisthenics, isometrics and gymnastics are all ways to strength train.
c. Flexibility or mobility training. Stretching the muscles, joints, tendons and ligaments helps keep them supple, improves posture and helps prevent injury. There are a lot of ways to stretch just be careful not to overdo it or you may hurt yourself.
Practicing martial arts like boxing, kickboxing, judo, etc. is a good way to train all three components of fitness at the same time. Gymnastics is also another excellent way to train all three aspects of fitness.
2. Feeding it junk. It is amazing what we put into our temples. Fast food, candy, sugar, caffeine, nicotine, all kinds of chemicals leads to a multitude of health problems that could be easily corrected with some proper nutritional habits. I’m not advocating fad diets, but good healthy eating in the proper proportions will make you feel, look and perform better. If you want to learn more about good nutrition check out www.mypyramid,gov .
3. Not resting it. The average American sleeps about 6 hours per night when 7-9 hours are needed for the Temple to function properly. Maybe it’s time to turn off the TV and go to bed already. The Biblical principle of the Sabbath was given to you by God for your benefit, I suggest you use it. The world would be a better place with well-rested and relaxed people, especially Christians.
4. Allowing it to become dirty and sloppy. It isn’t in the Bible but it’s a “trustworthy statement”: ‘Cleanliness is next to godliness”. An uncared for, dirty, unkempt temple speaks volumes about how you perceive the Holy Spirit Who lives in it. I’m not suggesting everyone become a fashion icon, but we should adorn our temples with the best we have or can afford. At any rate, soap and water are still relatively cheap and should be used regularly and vigorously! John the Baptist might have gotten away with not bathing, but he did live out in the wilderness! And I’d like to think all the time he spent baptizing folks washed some of the dirt off of him.
Christians are called to be change agents for good in a culture that is rapidly disintegrating. I’d like to see a resurrection of the Victorian philosophy of “Muscular Christianity”, where Christians took seriously the connection between body, mind and soul. The American Obesity Association reports that 64.5% of Americans over age 20 are overweight. That’s 127 million people! They also report that of these 30.5 % are obese. That’s 9 million people! That’s staggering. Among these millions of overweight and obese Americans are many Christians. There are a lot of defiled temples running around out there-it’s time to take this seriously. After all, “you are not your own, you are bought with a price”, you have been entrusted with your body-please, for God’s sake (literally) take care of it.
