Church Is Messy: Church in the Wild - We Are the Temple
In this episode of Church Is Messy, Rick and Svea dive into Paul's letter to the Corinthians, exploring how the early church struggled with the same tribal divisions we see today. Using a clever Jelly Roll analogy, Rick illustrates how easily Christians can align themselves with personalities and influencers rather than keeping Jesus as their foundation.
The conversation tackles the tension between theological knowledge and spiritual maturity, the danger of evaluating Jesus through the lens of our preferred tribe rather than the other way around, and what it means to truly be the temple of God. Rick and Svea discuss the importance of knowing not just what we believe, but why we believe it, and how immaturity and pride can lead us to seek certainty in the wrong places.
Throughout the episode, they emphasize that while we're called to contribute to God's work, it's ultimately His presence and power that produces growth—not our performance. The discussion offers both challenge and comfort: we're all vulnerable to these patterns, but we have a solid foundation in Christ that can't be shaken.
Topics discussed in this episode:
The conversation tackles the tension between theological knowledge and spiritual maturity, the danger of evaluating Jesus through the lens of our preferred tribe rather than the other way around, and what it means to truly be the temple of God. Rick and Svea discuss the importance of knowing not just what we believe, but why we believe it, and how immaturity and pride can lead us to seek certainty in the wrong places.
Throughout the episode, they emphasize that while we're called to contribute to God's work, it's ultimately His presence and power that produces growth—not our performance. The discussion offers both challenge and comfort: we're all vulnerable to these patterns, but we have a solid foundation in Christ that can't be shaken.
Topics discussed in this episode:
- 00:00 Intro
- 02:10 Jelly Roll Parable and Church Polarization
- 04:45 Teaching How to Think, Not What to Think
- 06:30 Historical Perspective on Division
- 10:00 Evaluating Jesus Through Our Tribe
- 14:45 Theologically Rich but Spiritually Poor
- 19:30 Immaturity and the Craving for Certainty
- 23:00 Building on the Foundation of Christ
- 26:00 Contributing vs. Producing
- 28:15 We Are the Temple
- 32:20 What a Healthy Church Looks Like
- 37:00 Closing & Preview of Next Week
