Paul’s argument in four steps

The next four chapters take these verses one step at a time. Each step comes with a question to ask yourself.

What this verse does not mean

For many people, “your body is a temple” sounds like a rule book. When Rick was growing up, church leaders used the verse to control people: no tattoos, no long hair on boys, nothing that didn’t fit their picture of a Christian.

That isn’t what Paul meant. Some choices are plainly destructive, and Rick says so. But this passage isn’t a list of rules. It’s an invitation to freedom.

Under new ownership

When you follow Jesus, you come under new ownership, not just new management. Jesus paid for you with His own life. That purchase set you free from four things:

• God’s judgment. The penalty for sin has been paid. Romans 3:23–25
• Sin’s grip. You don’t have to stay stuck in the cycle of doing what you don’t want to do. Romans 7:15–25
• Your past. Your history, regrets and old ways of thinking no longer define you. 2 Corinthians 5:17
• Other people’s expectations. That includes the world’s idea of beauty and success, and church rules that aren’t in the Bible. 1 Corinthians 7:23

You don’t have to measure yourself against an influencer, a gym crowd or anyone’s opinion. You live for an audience of One.

Motivation and discipline

Rick separates two things that often get confused:

• Motivation is wanting to do it. It grows when you find exercise you actually enjoy. Rick enjoys lifting weights, and he listens to sermons on the treadmill.
• Discipline is doing it anyway, on the days you don’t feel like it. Rick admits that about two days out of five, he doesn’t want to go to the gym. He goes anyway.

Your version won’t look like anyone else’s, and it doesn’t need to. Rick’s dad, in his 80s, walks laps at the mall. A friend from church runs Ironman triathlons. Rick celebrates both. As he puts it, if you aren’t walking to the mailbox right now, walking to the mailbox is a great start.

What finally changed for Rick

For years, Rick lost weight, gained it back, and bought new “church pants” again and again. When a staff member asked what finally made the difference, he thought about it and said:

Three reasons keep him going:

1. He knows a body can fail. Rick once woke up feeling fine and learned he had cancer.
2. He loves his family. When we neglect our health, he says, “we’re writing a check somebody else has to cash.” He wants to be a blessing to his kids as he ages, not an avoidable burden.
3. He belongs to God. His greatest fear is that his own habits might cut short his usefulness to God.

You can’t fake it

When Rick was in first grade, his dad told him that strong athletes get their build from hard work in the gym. Little Rick decided to skip the work and just walk like an athlete. A month later, his teacher called home to ask whether he needed physical therapy.

His dad set him straight: “You have to work for that. You can’t just show it.”

Faith works the same way. Some people start out excited and learn a lot. Then, slowly, they learn to say and do just enough to fit in at church, and they stop growing. Rick’s reminder: knowing more isn’t the same as growing deeper. “Depth is applying the information that you have.”

God lives in you

For the Jewish people, the temple was the place where God’s presence dwelled. Paul tells believers that now God’s presence lives in them.

Rick offers a simple way to picture the Trinity:

• The Father is the architect. He has the plan.
• The Son is the actor. He carried out the work of salvation.
• The Holy Spirit is the animator. He supplies the power that brings it to life in us.

Here’s what the Spirit does in every believer:

• Seals our salvation. Ephesians 1:13–14
• Prays for us when we have no words. Romans 8:26
• Guides us into truth. John 16:13
• Grows good fruit in our character. Galatians 5:22–23
• Convicts us where something needs to change. John 16:8

Jesus told His disciples it was better for them that He go away, because then He would send the Spirit (John 16:7). In His earthly body, Jesus could be in only one place at a time. The Spirit lives in every believer, everywhere.

Rick calls this next verse the heart of his whole argument:

That’s why this matters. If God works through your body, then the way you treat your body can open doors for His work, or close them.

From “Can I?” to “Should I?”

“Can I?” is a child’s question, and it’s a fine place to start. Growing believers learn to ask better ones:

• Not just “Can I?” but “Should I?”
• Not just “Is it okay?” but “Is it best?”
• Not just “Is it allowed?” but “Will it make me more useful to God and to others?”

Rick puts it this way: the Holy Spirit doesn’t usually meet us in the cans. He meets us in the shoulds.

He adds a sobering thought. We laugh about our weakness for donuts or fast food. If someone admitted a drug habit, no one would laugh. But both are ways of harming the body. One is just slower.

Not their business, but God’s

Here’s some freedom: what religious people think about your body is not their business.

But here’s the catch. It’s easy to slide from “not their business” to “not anyone’s business,” and that includes God. When we close a part of our life to Him, we stop growing there.

Made on purpose

Rick once watched a 6′7″, 400-pound lineman clear the way for a touchdown. That man was built for exactly that job. Imagine if he spent his career wishing he were small like his coach. He’d miss the point. Be who God made you to be, and invite Him in. God made you for a purpose only you can fulfill, and as Rick points out, you’re also the only one who can sabotage it.

Words to remember

And one for a smile. Rick admits leg day doesn’t come easy: “I have to wear two wallets if I want to look like I have glutes.”

Four questions before you choose

1. Can I? Is it within the boundaries?
2. Should I? Is it the best choice, not just an acceptable one?
3. Will it help? Will it give me more energy, more years or more readiness for God’s purpose?
4. Who am I doing this for? God, or the mirror?

Getting started

1. Have you ever heard “your body is a temple” used to shame someone? How has that shaped the way you read this passage?
2. If God walked through your “rented house” today, is there a room you’d rather He skip?

Step 1 · Bought with a price

3. Judgment, sin, your past, or other people’s expectations: which do you most need freedom from right now?

Step 2 · Not your own

4. Whose approval about your body or appearance have you been living for?
5. What’s one healthy activity you genuinely enjoy?

Step 3 · A temple

6. Where might you be looking the part spiritually without doing the work?
7. Choose one everyday habit. How do “Can I?” and “Should I?” lead to different answers?

Step 4 · Honor God

8. Why do you think this subject makes people defensive?
9. Energy, longevity or purpose: which one motivates you most, and why?
10. What’s one step the Holy Spirit may be nudging you toward this week?

Go deeper

Read in the NIV: 1 Corinthians 6:12–20 · 1 Corinthians 7:23 · Romans 12:1–2 · Acts 1:8 · John 16:7–15 · Psalm 139 · Ephesians 2:10 · 2 Thessalonians 1:11–12

Watch the sermons: Rented House, Part 1 · Rented House, Part 2