Why is this important? Read on…
Writing books is not my trade. Writing religious topic books certainly is not. My trade is a millennia old industry – temporary marketplaces. Such as the one in the Second Temple during the life of Jesus.
However, we do not operate at churches. In the spirit of Jesus, I do not feel it is appropriate to conduct commercial business in places of worship dedicated to our Lord.
I attend these gatherings only to encourage merchants to operate elsewhere such as my markets – without disrespect to our Lord, of course. Conducting such business profanes the name of our Lord, and his holy places. I take no part in it, except to provide more appropriate opportunities.
Churches need money. I completely understand. However, they have many other ways to fundraise than conducting commercial business within the church, especially the sanctuaries where worship actually takes place.
Matthew 21:12-16 describes the exact situation we comminly see today, and think nothing of, unless we have read this passage.
“12 And Jesus entered into the temple of God, and did cast forth all those selling and buying in the temple, and the tables of the money-changers he overturned, and the seats of those selling the doves,
13 and he saith to them, `It hath been written, My house a house of prayer shall be called, but ye did make it a den of robbers.’
14 And there came to him blind and lame men in the temple, and he healed them,
15 and the chief priests and the scribes having seen the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, `Hosanna to the Son of David,’ were much displeased;
16 and they said to him, `Hearest thou what these say?’ And Jesus saith to them, `Yes, did ye never read, that, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou didst prepare praise?’”
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This is also one of many old testament commandments Jesus follows rather than actually discussing in the New Testament. On page 48 of “For God So Loved The World: The Way, The Truth, and The Life”, under the third commandment, you see the Lord stated in Leviticus to not profane the Lord’s holy name. This means, do not defile anything that has been designated the Lord’s.
Jesus did not need a parable to teach this. He was able to physically demonstrate how not to break the commandment. Most of his debates/arguments are also actions in line with the Old Testament laws because he rebuked his neighbor when his neighbor was wrong, mostly the pharisees. So, it’s very important to know the Old Testament laws to see exactly what Jesus did throughout the years he taught.
How To Apply:
We can apply this to our lives today in a few simple ways:
- Do not conduct this type of commercial business within the church
- Do not participate in this type of business within the church
- Teach others about God’s Laws
- Practice God’s Laws
Whether you operate a marketplace, volunteer to organize one for your church, are a merchant at them, or a shopper, you should always keep God and his will a priority before yourself or anyone else. You can work, volunteer, and shop many other ways that do not profane God’s holy things.
Overcoming Objections:
When I go to give merchants notice of more appropriate opportunities, I am offered raffle tickets, free stuff, food, and more – just as a shopper. I respectfully decline the offers because I will not participate in the profanity. I will not even pay admission fees. I leave instead.
I usually receive objection to my decline of their offer, and that is ok! I simply tell them I do not accept anything free from merchants and from churches – which works beautifully.
If I receive objections to exchanging money within the church sanctuary, I usually state simply “Matthew 21.” The reference of a book chapter bodes well for the situation, and is accepted pretty gracefully. Many have to look it up.
Just remember, even the monetary tithing is not in scripture. Therefore, it qualifies as money exchange – profanity of a holy thing designated for the Lord.
Living Clean Naturally 