Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 4
Under the new covenant, the speaker says believers are “the temple… where heaven and earth meet” and “priestly kings” reflecting God’s character to the nations; what specific responsibilities and dangers come with that identity that evangelical Christianity often downplays?
Another way to ask: If believers are now God’s temple and “priestly kings,” what duties and risks come with that, and which ones do evangelicals often ignore?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
Believers’ responsibility is to live as God’s dwelling place and represent His character to the nations, not just to maintain personal spirituality. The danger is slipping into the “default” worship of self—pride, self-rule, and forgetting God’s sovereignty—which makes us less than truly human and invites God’s humbling.
- The speaker says that under Jesus “we are called to be the temple of God, the place where heaven and earth meet.”
- He adds a mission-shaped identity: “priestly kings reflecting the image of God… to the nations around us.”
- He cites 1 Corinthians: “you yourselves are the temple of God and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst.”
- He warns about losing the big picture in “mundane things” and falling into a “default mode of operation.”
- He defines that default as self-centeredness: thinking “we are the center of the universe,” trapped in our “thoughts, logic, and judgments.”
- He connects pride to dehumanization and judgment: proud rulers become “violent beasts who will face God’s justice,” and God “is able to humble” the proud.