He Will Dwell with Them

I'm a pastor, and I've spent my career trying to mediate between God and people - through worship, prayer, preaching, ritual. I'm the translator.

But John's final vision undoes my job description. God will dwell with them directly. There's no more need for priests, temples, mediators. The presence itself is everything.

That's both humbling and liberating. My entire system of religious practice is meant to end in a world where presence is immediate. I'm working toward my own obsolescence.

So I'm asking: what am I doing now that prepares people for that? Not maintaining religious structures for their own sake, but creating spaces where presence is possible. Teaching people to encounter God directly.

When God finally comes to dwell, the churches as we know them will be gone. And that's good. We're rehearsing for something infinitely better.