I have been reading the excellent Hodder Bible Commentary on Leviticus by the Revd Dr Katherine Davis (Hodder and Stoughton, 2025).
After each section of commentary, explaining what the passage meant in Old Testament times, Dr Davis has a very helpful section, “Moving forward into the New Testament” where she gives the application for us today.
There was however one passage where I think that, in pointing out the transformation to the new, she overlooks that some of the old may remain.
In Leviticus chapter 21 verse 12, and chapter 22 verse 23, God warns the Israelites not to “desecrate my sanctuary”.
Dr Davis comments that the application today is that we should not desecrate the people of God:
“we no longer need to ensure that a physical tabernacle remains holy as God’s dwelling place; the body of Christ is God’s tabernacle, with his Spirit dwelling among us. Moreover, we are to treat the body of Christ as holy because Jesus has made his church holy. So the same teaching from Leviticus 21-22 applies, which is that we can by our words and actions treat the body of Christ as common by not respecting the body’s holy status. We can allow, for instance, conflict to cause chaos, we can adopt doctrine that conforms to the culture around us instead of conforming to Jesus’s ways, or we can be lukewarm about being part of the body. For example, we fit gathering together around our children’s activities as though it is just another thing that we need to do in our week that needs to be juggled. This is treating the body of Christ as common.” Page 201.
Whilst I agree with Dr Davis, I don’t think we should ignore the building entirely.
I have just been on holiday to Cornwall where we had a guided tour of Sclerder (often wrongly called Sclerder Abbey). The guide book “The Bright Field: The History of Sclerder” (1986, Carmelite Monastery, Sclerder, Looe) states:
“A church, however, is no ordinary building. It is the outward and visible sign, first of Christ, the true and perfect Temple, ‘not made with hands’; then of his holy people, the Church, his mystical Body, built of living stones, who gather therein to hear the Word of God, to pray together, celebrate the Eucharist and participate in the sacraments.” Page 5.
Yes, the Church is the people of God, but the building also has significance.
When I was a volunteer at a church youth club we played hide and seek, and one of the teenagers climbed over the altar to hide behind it.
That didn’t feel right.
If I took Dr Davis’ interpretation, it would have been fine, the altar is just a piece of furniture, the Church is the people.
But I prefer the ‘both and’ view from Sclerder: the Church is the people of God, but the building also points us to spiritual things and should be respected.
As a former churchwarden, whose job was the upkeep of the church building, I would say that, wouldn’t I?
Adrian Vincent
August 2026.