Have We Lost Our Sense of Sacredness?

by J.A. Medders June 9, 2015

“To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours” (1 Cor. 1:2 )

Sacred.

We don’t hear that word much anymore. It feels antique, off-limits, museum-like. But that’s not the intention of the word. Sacred means revered, holy, set apart, connected to God. There’s a sense of weightiness to it.

In Christ, we are sacred people. Saints because of Jesus. He make us saints. We now have a holy purpose and calling on our lives. And it’s glorious.

Our churches are God’s possession. We are not irrelevant, unimportant, or yada-yada’d to him. We are God’s. When we gather together on every Lord’s day, heaven meets earth in an orderly fashion. Cosmic realties are played out right in front of us. When you look at another Christian, you are looking at God’s possession, a sacred member of the body of Christ Jesus.

So why do we bicker? Why do we belittle one another? Why do we divide over non-essential party lines? Why do so many Christians view the local church as non-vital to their lives? Why are we sustained by things whose batteries have long corroded?

We’ve lost the sacredness of the church.

We’ve diminished our sacredness in Christ.

We’ve glossed over the sacredness of God himself.

The sandals-and-candles church movement, with their super-seeker-doodah turn-key ministry blueprints, has stripped the cross of its power (1 Cor. 1:17 ). But it can be recovered. By God’s power and grace, it can all be re-discovered.

Our churches will experience a super-nova of the Spirit when we stop trading personal and meaningful holiness for what is safe in the world’s eyes. We’ll feel heaven-sent joy when we get uncomfortable with our local churches attempts at non-sacredness, the dumbing down of holiness to not be all holier-than-thou—as though Christlikeness isn’t what we are called to. We are called to be saints, supernatural and grace-infused lives, together.

Maybe revival is right around the side of recovering the sacred posture as God’s people, the assembly of God, for the glory of God.

I’m ready to experience it. You?