The One Year Bible - Day 203

Solomon dedicates the Temple with a very sincere prayer. He asks that God will always dwell there. Many church congregations treat their buildings like the Temple even though we are told that we are His temple but yet we don't treat it fully like a Temple. Personally, I don't see the building as the temple but I go to an Anglican church and that is certainly how it is perceived in many people's eyes. We use phrases totally freely like, "Are you going to church", "I didn't see you at church", "He is over in the church", despite many people openly acknowledging that the building is not the church/Temple. What is half-hearted though is that although we sort of treat the building like the Temple, we do not fully consecrate it. We do not metaphorically wash before going in, we do not restrict the activity in the building to what is suitable for a Temple (at least not in our church). In some ways, I have a respect for the high churches who do go the full 9 yards and treat their buildings with reverence. It might be Old Testament but it is consistent. I feel that a lot of newer churches are inconsistent and are pehaps guilty of discarding some religious concepts but holding on to others.