The Money Changers
The sermon in my church yesterday was on Jesus casting the moneychangers out of the temple (Mark 11:15-19). This story is important in address what I have been calling the corruption of American evangelicalism.
My understanding of the history behind this is that these people initially were doing a service for God, but that service got corrupted and became an abomination. As we know, the Jewish temple worship system required a lot of animal sacrifice. For pilgrims coming perhaps long distances to visit the temple, this presented a hardship. How could they bring the lambs, rams, etc. required for the sacrifice? To address this, Jerusalem entrepreneurs setup shop on the Mount of Olives, selling animals to the pilgrims for use in the temple. Thus were they providing a needed service to traveling Jews. But, of course, money was involved. The sellers started raising prices. After all, what's wrong with making a little profit off this service? Eventually, the operations moved to the court of the Gentiles in the temple, to be closer to the action. Doing so, of course, drives the Gentile worshippers away. Thus, for the sake of profit, these entrepreneurs had perverted the purpose of the temple, corrupting the worship that took place there. It became an enterprise to manage rather than communion with God.
What can we learn from this? How often do we see the same type of corruption taking place in our own churches? Look at the Christian music business. Christian artists, gifted by God to create songs of worship, control their work so as to maximize profit. Churches cannot use their songs unless they pay a fee. These musicians then tour churches to play their songs during church services to promote their latest CDs, available for sale in the narthex. How often does worship become an infomercial to get the listener to buy a CD? How often do Christian authors grab the pulpit on Sunday morning to deliver a sermon which is really just a sales pitch for their latest book, also available at a discount in the narthex? How is any of this any different than what the moneychangers in the temple were doing?
We can also look outside the church operations. How often do we see Christian leaders get involved in some issue for all the right reasons, only to see their involvement devolve into a struggle for personal power? It's no longer service for God, it is a vehicle for their own advancement.
And, of course, my personal favorite. How often do companies mass-produce Bibles with initially good intentions, only to see business interests take over so that they end up trying to milk believers out of as much money as possible as they buy their copies of the Word of God? How many different ways can Zondervan package the NIV? They do everything they can to get you to buy as many copies of the NIV as possible. Their specialty is the custom bible. The Sports Devotional Bible. The Student Bible. The Bible for Teen Girls. The Bible for Teen Guys. The Bible for Women. If you don't fall into at least one of those categories, don't worry, there are plenty of others. All these are is the NIV text with additional materials that would, separately, constitute a short pamphlet or manual. But rather than sell that short pamphlet for a few bucks, they package it with the full NIV so they can justify selling it for $25. And, if you are a teenage boy who is a student and plays sports, you may just have to have three of their specialties. They may call it the Word of God, but it's a cash bonanza for Zondervan. (I pick on Zondervan, but I don't know if any of the other publishers are any better.)
The English language is flooded with quality translations of the Bible. Yet every few years, it seems like someone comes up with another. Meanwhile there are groups in the world for which no translation even exists into their native language. Why? Well, there's not a lot of profit to be made coming up with a translation of the Bible into some language spoken by a jungle tribe deep in the South American wilderness.
All these problems, be they the temptations of money, fame, or power, reflect our culture's influence on our church. We must recognize the money changers in our own personal temples and the ways in which they corrupt our worship. We must repent and restore God to His rightful place as the center of our worship and activities.
My understanding of the history behind this is that these people initially were doing a service for God, but that service got corrupted and became an abomination. As we know, the Jewish temple worship system required a lot of animal sacrifice. For pilgrims coming perhaps long distances to visit the temple, this presented a hardship. How could they bring the lambs, rams, etc. required for the sacrifice? To address this, Jerusalem entrepreneurs setup shop on the Mount of Olives, selling animals to the pilgrims for use in the temple. Thus were they providing a needed service to traveling Jews. But, of course, money was involved. The sellers started raising prices. After all, what's wrong with making a little profit off this service? Eventually, the operations moved to the court of the Gentiles in the temple, to be closer to the action. Doing so, of course, drives the Gentile worshippers away. Thus, for the sake of profit, these entrepreneurs had perverted the purpose of the temple, corrupting the worship that took place there. It became an enterprise to manage rather than communion with God.
What can we learn from this? How often do we see the same type of corruption taking place in our own churches? Look at the Christian music business. Christian artists, gifted by God to create songs of worship, control their work so as to maximize profit. Churches cannot use their songs unless they pay a fee. These musicians then tour churches to play their songs during church services to promote their latest CDs, available for sale in the narthex. How often does worship become an infomercial to get the listener to buy a CD? How often do Christian authors grab the pulpit on Sunday morning to deliver a sermon which is really just a sales pitch for their latest book, also available at a discount in the narthex? How is any of this any different than what the moneychangers in the temple were doing?
We can also look outside the church operations. How often do we see Christian leaders get involved in some issue for all the right reasons, only to see their involvement devolve into a struggle for personal power? It's no longer service for God, it is a vehicle for their own advancement.
And, of course, my personal favorite. How often do companies mass-produce Bibles with initially good intentions, only to see business interests take over so that they end up trying to milk believers out of as much money as possible as they buy their copies of the Word of God? How many different ways can Zondervan package the NIV? They do everything they can to get you to buy as many copies of the NIV as possible. Their specialty is the custom bible. The Sports Devotional Bible. The Student Bible. The Bible for Teen Girls. The Bible for Teen Guys. The Bible for Women. If you don't fall into at least one of those categories, don't worry, there are plenty of others. All these are is the NIV text with additional materials that would, separately, constitute a short pamphlet or manual. But rather than sell that short pamphlet for a few bucks, they package it with the full NIV so they can justify selling it for $25. And, if you are a teenage boy who is a student and plays sports, you may just have to have three of their specialties. They may call it the Word of God, but it's a cash bonanza for Zondervan. (I pick on Zondervan, but I don't know if any of the other publishers are any better.)
The English language is flooded with quality translations of the Bible. Yet every few years, it seems like someone comes up with another. Meanwhile there are groups in the world for which no translation even exists into their native language. Why? Well, there's not a lot of profit to be made coming up with a translation of the Bible into some language spoken by a jungle tribe deep in the South American wilderness.
All these problems, be they the temptations of money, fame, or power, reflect our culture's influence on our church. We must recognize the money changers in our own personal temples and the ways in which they corrupt our worship. We must repent and restore God to His rightful place as the center of our worship and activities.
posted by Doc @ 10:06 AM
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