In our lives, we sometimes build a temple where we keep God. It becomes our place of worship, this temple is our paradigm, made of our understanding and our history. Often this temple can be that which limits God in our lives. The place where we keep Him separate from us, our hidden sins, the lifestyle we continue to pursue, the relationships we protect, and the wounds we hold on to, it helps us maintain order and control.
In addition to that temple, we have also built walls that separate us from what God has called us into, intimate relationships. Sometimes we call them boundaries because that sounds much more spiritual. We build walls of race, walls of politics, walls of denomination, walls of how we will serve, walls of doctrine, walls in marriage, walls between us and our kids, walls in the workplace, and walls between the sinner and the saint.
For Christ himself has made peace between us Jews and you Gentiles by making us all one people. He has broken down the wall of hostility that used to separate us. Ephesians 2:14-18
The truth is that Jesus came and destroyed the old religious system, the temple, and the old way of thinking about God, and he destroyed the barriers we have created in humanity. He did this work because he knew we couldn’t, or wouldn’t, He knew we were expert wall builders. Walls give us comfort and structure that prevents us from trusting and relying on God and our fellow brothers and sisters. Our God is a God who tears down walls.
