05:55 AM Apr 19, 2010 Today papersSINGAPORE - Religious beliefs must remain private and should not be imposed on others - but it can be used to promote good values that all can agree on, said Law Minister K Shanmugam.....On the roles of temples, Mr Shanmugam said they see themselves as providers of religious service so people come to temples, and the temples don't usually "go out". He said they can perform a wider role, emphasising education, healthy living.
Reflections:
This is one of the most interesting comments made by the Law minister in S'pore. I couldn't help but to think of the role of believers in the light of his comments. And of course the PRIVATE vs the PUBLIC side to our beliefs. The recent environment in fact does not augur well indeed. What is sensitive and what is not? What is imposing and what is encroachment and what is not?
Firstly....
ON TEMPLES!
- Acts 17:24 "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.
Matthew 12:6 6I tell you that one greater than the temple is here
John 2:18Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?"
19Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days."
20The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" 21But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
1 Cor 3:9For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.16Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? 17If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.
1 Cor 6:19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
2 Cor 6:For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."17"Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. 18"I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."
Eph 2:19Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Rev 21: 22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple 3"Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
That rests our case. The "temples" don't usually go out??
That brings us to the second point :-
ON PRIVATE VS PUBLIC FAITH!
- Matt 5: Salt and Light
13"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
14"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
Luke 11 The Lamp of the Body
33"No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. 34Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. 35See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. 36Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you."
John 8:12[ The Validity of Jesus' Testimony ] When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
John 12:36Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light." - Acts 13:47For this is what the Lord has commanded us: " 'I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.' "
Acts 26:23that the Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles."
Eph 5: 8For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10and find out what pleases the Lord. 11Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them..... 15Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
1 Thessalonians 5:5You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness
There goes again. Rest my case.
Challenging times ahead indeed - being a moving temple where the Holy Spirit dwells and shining forth the light as an influence to others!!
Are we merely living so as to provide a 'religious service' to others?
Are we doing or being?
Are we remembering the Lord of the work or the work of the Lord?
Remember the Lord's declaration " I am the light of the world"
Remember his exortation " You are the light of the world"
Here's a story about the candlelight!
It is about three children and the inheritance. Father decides to set the test of who can fill the large barn in two days with a given sum of money. One buys straw, another bracken but the youngest seems to arrive with nothing. On the morning of the test one corner of the barn is filled with straw, another is filled with bracken. The youngest son stands in the middle. Father questions each...... The youngest asks for the doors to be closed, lights a candle and fills the barn with light... and as it is burning, sings a song. Her father tells her that she has filled the room three times over. She has filled it with light, and light is knowledge. She has filled it with song and song is joy. And knowledge and joy together make wisdom!
