Stop Going to Church. Start Being It

Reclaiming the Temple, the Kingdom, and Eden from the Pastor’s Palace

Sunday has become a routine. People wake up, get dressed, and go to church. They sit in rows, listen to one voice, sing songs, give money, and go home.

The New Testament never tells us to do this. It calls us to **be** the church, not just attend one. The building is not sacred. You are. The Spirit of God lives in people, not in stone or wood.

Eden Was God’s First Temple

Before Israel built a tabernacle or a temple, there was a garden. Eden was not only a home. It was a sacred place where heaven and earth met.

God walked with humans in Eden (Genesis 3:8). Humanity was placed in the garden “to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). These same verbs describe priestly service in Numbers 3:7–8. The temple later used garden imagery trees, rivers, gold, and cherubim—because it pointed back to Eden.

Eden was God’s design. His presence filled the space. His people ruled and served with Him.

The Temple Was Eden Recreated

When humans left Eden, God created a new meeting place. The tabernacle and then the temple became the new overlap between heaven and earth.

The temple reminded Israel of Eden. It used the same garden symbols. It showed that God still wanted to live with His people. But the temple was only a picture of what was coming. God had a bigger plan.

Jesus Became the Temple

When Jesus (YHWShA) came, He replaced the temple system. He forgave sins without temple sacrifices. He referred to His own body as the true temple (John 2:19–21). He brought God’s presence into daily life.

God’s presence would no longer be limited to a building. It would move into people through His Spirit.

YHWH's Spirit Now Dwells in Us

After YHWShA rose, He poured out the Spirit at Pentecost. In Acts 2, fire rested on people, not on a building. The Spirit moved in.

Paul wrote:

Don’t you realize? Your body it’s a sacred space, a temple where God’s own Spirit has taken up residence. This Spirit is God’s gift to you; you don’t belong to yourself anymore. (1 Cor 6:19)

Peter added:

You yourselves like living stones are being built together into a spiritual house, a place where God’s presence dwells. You are becoming a holy priesthood, offering up spiritual sacrifices that delight God through YHWShA the Messiah. (1 Peter 2:5)

These passages make it clear. We are the new temple. God wants to dwell in us just as He once filled Eden and the temple.

The Pastor’s Palace Is a Step Backward

Many modern churches have returned to old patterns. They build grand buildings. They give one person the microphone. They create systems where power, money, and spiritual authority are centered on a single leader.

I call this model the Pastor’s Palace.

In the Pastor’s Palace:

• One person leads, and others watch

• A building becomes the center of power

• Spiritual gifts stay on the stage

• People become spectators, not priests

The Pastor’s Palace turns the gathering into a royal court rather than a family. It replaces shared priesthood with hierarchy. It looks more like the temple system Jesus confronted than the living temple He created.

The Kingdom Is God’s Presence on Earth

The kingdom is what it looks like when God runs things. The temple was always about bringing God’s rule to earth. Now, each believer is that temple.

Where you go, God’s presence goes. Where believers gather, heaven and earth meet. You do not go to the kingdom. You carry it.

Stop Going. Start Being.

This is the shift. Do not abandon gathering. Gather in a way that reflects the kingdom. Stop going to church as if God is locked in a building. Start being the church as if Eden lives in you.

Walk as a living temple. Meet with others as a spiritual family, not as subjects in a Pastor’s Palace. Carry God’s presence into the world.

The Garden Is Rising Again

God rules through His people. When we gather in the Spirit, we act as His ruling family. The garden returns through us.

The temple has left the building. The kingdom spreads through people who know who they are in the Messiah. The Pastor’s Palace is not the goal. God’s living temple is.

Final Thought

Stop going to church. Start being it. God’s Spirit lives in His people. He is building a living temple where His presence can dwell. Eden is rising again. Not through stone and gold. Through you.