He said to me, "These are the kitchens where those who minister at the temple are to cook the sacrifices of the people." – Ezekiel 46:24

Today's Scripture Reading (July 20, 2020): Ezekiel 46

American poet Criss Jami writes in "Killosophy" that "telling an introvert to go to a party is like telling a saint to go to Hell." I feel the truth of the words in the center of my being. I remember being invited to parties when I was younger and not being happier than when I got there and couldn't get in, or if I got lost and couldn't find the place. (Sorry, I tried!) But then I know that I am an introvert, and often parties and social gatherings of any kind feel like being sent to Hell. But that doesn't mean that I don't need social events in my life. It just means that generally, I like them smaller and with people that have earned my trust. For me, there is nothing scarier than meeting with a bunch of people that I don't know well; in either big or small groups.

All of this can make church hard because, at its best, the church is not just a spiritual activity; it is also a social one. It is a point that Ezekiel makes in his vision of the temple. The temple was a place of worshipping God, but on several levels, it was also a place of social interaction and fellowship. The church is made stronger by its connection with God, as well as the social interconnections that it creates between its worshippers. "The worship that went on in the temple was not confined to word and gesture. It included the eating and the experience of fellowship that comes from sharing a meal" (Bruce Vawter and Leslie Hoppe).

John Taylor makes a similar point.

"So the temple was a place for sacrificing, cooking and eating, as well as for prayer and so-called 'spiritual' activities. The Christian church has been the poorer when it has drawn a firm dividing line between spiritual life and social activities. In Ezekiel's temple, at any rate, there was envisaged a healthy fusion of the two elements, and this was typical of much in Old Testament worship."

In a world that is made up of both introverts and extroverts, that means that the church needs to create several kinds of social connections. Parties might feel like Hell for the introvert but are necessary for the health of the extrovert. But pushing introverts into social situations with strangers is terrifying for the one being pushed. (I can't tell you the horror I feel every time I go to a ministerial meeting, and it is announced that we are going to break up into groups for prayer. Social prayer interactions with people you do not know are emotional poison for the introverted.) But it is not that the introvert doesn't need these interactions, but rather that we need to find careful social connections that will build them up so that they don't feel like they are being sent to Hell.

Because the healthy church is made up of both spiritual activities and social interactions, the sacred and the profane, for both the extrovert and the introvert, and everyone else who is stuck somewhere in-between.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 47