Along the Way: It’s Temple Time

by

America is a house divided. Not as it was during the time of the Union and the Confederacy, but in observable ways, very recently demonstrated by those I read on social media who lambasted the inclusion of “Let Every Voice Sing” as an insult to 4th of July celebrations. Telling as this kind of pushback is, it is but a comparatively mild illustration of a division far deeper and sinister than song selection. But it is a reminder that we are living in a time when we must choose whom we will serve.

Looking to Jesus for guidance, I call the situation we are in “Temple Time.” And from Jesus, I find help in his example for dealing with it. From him we learn some important things.

First, Jesus respected the Temple as a symbol of God’s presence among the people. Nothing he said or did undermined that holy metaphor. He worshiped God in the Temple and taught on its premises. This is the starting point for understanding of how we are to speak and act relative to our national and ecclesial temples today. But from Jesus we learn that reverence and respect is not the end of things. It is not all we do. Faux patriotism and faux faith want us to stop here. But we cannot because Jesus did not.

Second, he overturned the tables of the money changers (a metaphor for the “dirty rotten system” Dorothy Day called it) that had made the Temple a “den of thieves.” He did not destroy the Temple, he cleansed it. And it is here that Jesus gives us our marching orders for dealing with the evils that are undermining our country (e g. Nationalism) and church (e.g. Fundamentalism) today.

I recently thought about our divided house as being in good shape on one end, and the other end being on fire. Recognizing that one end of the house is okay does not mean we ignore the fire burning on the other end. We don’t sit in the undamaged part of the house and allow the fire to consume more and more of the dwelling. We don’t call our friends and say, “We’re fine,” we call the fire department and say, “Come quick!”

It’s Temple Time, in both society and religion.  Respecting the whole while overturning the parts is the way of Jesus. It must be ours too.

There’s one final lesson we learn from Jesus’ actions in Temple Time. Those who “set up shop” in the Temple so that the system promoted their imperialism, preserved their power, and perpetuated their benefits were quick to denounce Jesus. Those who had made the Temple a sacred cow did not remain passive and silent when Jesus upset their system. They called him crazy, even one who was working against God. That’s all imperialists can do when their monuments are exposed as idols.

Likewise, our words and deeds in Temple Time will be said to be libtard socialism, unbiblical progressivism–unpatriotic, heretical, etc. etc. But Jesus knew better, and so do we. When we are said to have “gone down the slippery slope,” it is because Jesus went down it first, and we are only following him. It’s what you do when it’s Temple Time.