If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple. – 1 Corinthians 3:17

Today's Scripture Reading (March 27, 2024): 1 Corinthians 3

I have jokingly referred to this passage as the anti-smoking passage. The reason is that, as a kid, it was often this verse that my church tied to the dangers of smoking. Growing up, the idea was that real Christians don’t smoke because they understand that smoking hurts your body and your body is the Temple of God. God will destroy anyone who undertakes actions to hurt God’s Temple. The moral? Don’t smoke! Because, evidently, smoking is enough to send you to hell.

The problem is that, while that is the message I heard being preached growing up, that isn’t the intention with which the passage is concerned. I have told my friends that I don’t want them to smoke. But it is not always a spiritual issue. I don’t want you to smoke because it is terrible for you, and I want you around for a while. But, to say that smoking will send you to hell is a gross overstatement. Your health will suffer if you smoke. I think you could do many more pleasurable things with your money, like going someplace warm during the winter months, and, in a more spiritual vein, you could give more money to the economically displaced people of the world. But, as I often hear in the movies, “smoke ‘em if you’ve got ‘em.”

What this passage is talking about is the Christian Church. The hint is in the phrase, “You together are that temple.” It is not me alone who Paul is arguing is the Temple. It is us together. When we get together to worship or gather to be the salt and light in the world, we are God’s Temple. And anything we do to destroy or weaken that Temple is sin. When we gossip about someone in the church, react to others inside the church with malice instead of love, and promote division within the church, we are caught in the clutches of sin. And if that behavior continues, we are in danger of arousing God's anger.

And all of this makes sense when we consider the purpose of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. The Corinthian Church was divided. Arguments were raging within the church. Paul describes the situation at the beginning of his letter. Some argued that they were the followers of Paul, others of Apollos, and still others were the followers of Peter. Some others were super-spiritual, and so they said that they were followers of Christ. However, the division between these groups meant that none were following Christ's teaching. This division meant that the church did not exist. The authentic church of Jesus Christ cannot survive this kind of division. If there is division among the faith community, the best we can aspire to be is a social club. But you are not the church!

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 4