“Vociferous talks and music on the radio from the building across from our classroom could be heard distinctly or whenever we quieted down working on our in-class assignments we could hear the lecture from the next classroom. The Jiangguo Elevated Express is just situated on the west side of our campus. Throughout the day, sounds of traffic more or less fill most of the classroom on campus, the steady whoosh of passing cars. The new constructed building in which my classroom was flooded due to heavy rain brought in by a typhoon. I really don’t see any good about this school,” complained my elder daughter as she packed her books and lunch box into her schoolbag. “ I wouldn’t study in this school to which were I not admitted and it were one of the prestigious schools in Taipei.”

A few minutes later, I responded to her softly as she finally relented a bit, “A good school lies in the whole study body and teachers but not its buildings. And luckily God doesn’t live in a certain temple or building, but live within us. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit.”

In Luke 21: 1-5 when some of Jesus’ disciples stood in front of the temple talking and admiring the majestic stonework of the temple and the memorial decorations on the walls, Jesus replied that one day the temple would end up in a heap of rubble. In 2 Samuel 7 David settled in Jerusalem in and he himself lived in a cedar of house so that he thought of building a house or temple for God. However God said He was with his people all the way from the forefather of Israel and didn’t ask any of the leaders to build him a house. God fills all the earth. He is an omnipresent God and doesn’t live in a certain temple.

Many non-Christians have some misconceptions of God and the church (building). They assume that God only lives in the church building and that is why Christians come to worship Him in the church. Even some Christians assume that they should build church buildings with certain styles and decorations so as to demonstrate the splendor of God. If a church building is used only for its exhibition, it’ll become like an art museum the purpose of which is to display artworks.

A student of mine shared her college memories with me as we worked on a certain project.  She told me one of the best college memories was to stare at the school library; its unique, post-modern architecture. As I asked her if she would frequently use the library, her answer was “barely.” Like this student, are we Christians looking at Him or church buildings?