Meet Brett Johnston

In this passage Jesus is prophetically speaking of how the temple will actually be torn down. It was built with huge stones. Historians say that the stones were 10 to 12 feet long, and Jesus is saying that they would all be torn down. This is not a building that even a hurricane or tornado could take out. But it was in fact torn down by Titus (son of Caesar; not Paul's buddy) and Vespasian in 70 A.D.

While the temple was originally built by the people of God as He had instructed them to do, they had walked away from His will and purposes. They were no longer about the things that God was about. They had made their religion a "how to," instead of a "why." They were relying on old ways of gaining God's favor through keeping the law, but their hearts were hardened towards the relationship with God to which Jesus called them. For a building to be of any use, His temple must be built first in your heart.

I love that God uses our facility to host so many people at Celebrate Recovery (a biblical 12-step ministry), the Porch (a weekly gathering for singles and young adults), and all of the men’s and women’s Bible studies that meet there. And how great is it that so many participate in these activities (and others) on top of all those who gather on Sundays for corporate worship, teaching, children’s ministry, etc. But those ministries work not because of our facility, but because of the heart behind them. I love that we have an actual building—a great tool for ministry, but the ministry that happens in and through us only works and matters because God continues to build His temple in the hearts of His people.

So I hope and pray that we never turn our hearts from God as a body. I also trust that He will tear down the building if that is how He can achieve His ultimate purposes in us.