Monday 13 August 2018

A den of thieves

And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought;  Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves. – Luke 19.45-46

The money changers had defiled the Temple. They had set up stalls to rip people off who came to Jerusalem to offer up sacrifices. The charged to convert their money and they charged crazy prices for the animals to sacrifice. They were using God’s house to make money for themselves. Jesus was furious! He went in a wrecked their tables and drove them out with whips.

What a terrible thing that was – they were profiting off the name of God.

Though we may not see money changers in church foyers today ripping people off as they come to church this sin is still prevelant today. There are plenty of folks who use God or His name for their own profit. It happens any time a preacher presents a demand for the salary he wants or evangelists have a minimum fee for coming to speak in church. I know from experience that income is a huge part of many men’s decision about taking a church or taking a meeting.

But there is something else that bothers me. It bothers me when businesses claim that they are Christian businesses in order to increase their sales. I also know from experience that claiming Christ in a business ad is any evidence of how hard they will work or how fair they will be. It can seem like a sales gimmick in order to draw in business. In fact, some of my worst business dealings have been with supposed ‘Christian businesses.’ Some, not all, these folks are turning the church into den of thieves. Christian businesses and Christian business men and women should let their faith be seen in their work ethic and quality of the work they do and their fairness in their business dealings. If the do that they won’t have to advertise how “Christian’ they are.

I have a very close unbeliever friend who posted something on Facebook recently that really struck a chord with me. He wrote [Christians need] to stop treating their god as a marketing gimmick.



Whenever we use our faith as a way to make a profit we are no better than these money changers.

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