Next-Wave Ezine > church & culture

The Language We Use
By Jared Byas

We have all heard it said, "The church isn't the building but the people". As much as we talk like that, I think our actions still betray the fact that we have the "building" concept still embedded in our thinking. Just look at the words we use on a weekly basis.

I am going to church tomorrow.
What did you learn at church today?
Do you go to church?

What seemingly amounts to harmless semantics I think actually affects how we view our spirituality in general. By talking this way we make it harder and harder on ourselves to not compartmentalize things. There are several implications of this type of thinking (e.g. our passivity at our weekend services, gatherings, communities, et al.) but I want to focus on just one:

A lack of concern for our spirituality outside of the buildings we go to.

We often compartmentalize our spiritual lives (categories of the sacred & profane) and I find that our language of "going to church" emphasizes that even more. In a sense we oftentimes believe that the place we go to worship has a more "spiritual" aspect to it, that it is more "holy" than other places.

I worked at a very small church in Virginia while I was finishing up college as the worship pastor/college pastor and it was a very sweet time. But my wife and I were the youngest couple by about 2-3 decades. In any case, I was often reprimanded for hurdling the altar railing to get to the stage or for wearing my hat in the sanctuary (it was okay downstairs, but not "the sanctuary"). I was not allowed to wear shorts or t-shirts, etc.

This is partly what I question. When we begin to exalt a space, we forget that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, not any building. Working with a youth group I often hear the phrase "you can't do that in church!" But by saying such things, we are saying that there are things that are okay outside the church but not okay inside, as though the building somehow is where God dwells, instead of seeing that it's within us that God dwells. We can't get away from "the sacred space", it is always with us because it is us. We ourselves are a sort of "sacred space". Is this not what Paul means when he says, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your body (1 Cor 6:19-20)?”

Some will cringe, thinking that my conclusion is to say we should “de-Spiritualize” the buildings we go to. They have visions of rioting and pulling down crosses. But my point is actually just the opposite. Instead of bringing our idea of "church" down to the level of our daily lives, we should exalt our daily lives to the level of our idea of "church", since that is who we are. It’s easy to demand a reverent respect for a building since it is outside of us, only a small and nostalgic part. It’s much harder to demand a reverent respect for ourselves. That, my friends, is revolution of the soul.

Jared Byas lives in the burbs of Philly. He is currently working for a group formerly known as a church and goes to Westminster Theological Seminary in Glenside, PA. He loves philosophy, Kierkegaard, theology, community, beer, and his wife (but certainly not in that order). When he grows up he wants to know what he wants to do.