The Church - Handle with Care

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 "Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple."

D.A. Carson comments on this passage writing, "In 3:16–17, the building, the church of God, becomes a temple. Later on, God’s temple is the individual Christian’s body (6:19–20), but here it is the local church. God loves this building so much that he openly threatens to destroy those who destroy God’s temple. Damage the church, and you desecrate God’s temple—and God will destroy you."

The church is not something anyone needs to mess with or cause problems in. Those who produce divisions or cause unnecessary controversy can destroy a body of believers. People who gossip, hold grudges, or try to gain power can introduce destructive elements that weaken the body.

These influences are like diseases. God will not tolerate them. He will inject a disease-killing treatment to save the body.

That is a sobering thought.