By Pastor Greg
A family went to one of those
restaurants where the walls are plastered with movie memorabilia. The
grandmother went to see the hostess about reserving a table. When she returned,
she found her 10-year-old granddaughter staring at a poster of Superman
standing in a phone booth. She looked puzzled.
"Doesn't she know who Superman is?" she asked her husband. "Worse," he replied. "She
doesn't know what a phone booth is."
Sometimes I think the same could
be said about the Church. Sometimes I
wonder if the people of this world really know what the Church is or why it exists? I get the
impression that the world views the Church as place perfect people go to
celebrate their perfectness. The world
seems to view the Church as nothing more
than a country club founded on religious principles. Now, I know their image is wrong. I know the Church is a place where those sick
from sin can find healing, but I can’t help but wonder why the world gets the
wrong impression. Maybe it’s because of
what actually happens in many churches
today. Maybe it’s because the Christians
in many churches have lost sight of who they are supposed to be and what they
are supposed to be doing.
The Church has been called a “city
on a hill” and the “Light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). The Church – those who are called Christian –
has been commissioned by the Lord to “make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
that [Jesus] commanded” [1]
(Matthew 28:19-20). And when a Church
loses sight of that calling, perhaps the Lord turns over their tables. I don’t know this for sure, but I sometimes
wonder if the Lord doesn’t stir things up in a church that has lost sight of
the Great Commission. Maybe the chaos a
church endures is the Lord’s way of calling them back to the task, just as He did one day in Jerusalem.
John tells us about a time Jesus
went to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover.
When He arrived, he was deeply disturbed by what he found. 13 The Passover of
the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 And He found in the temple
those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15 And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with
the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and
overturned their tables; 16 and to those who were selling the
doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place
of business.” 17 His
disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house will consume
me.” [2]
(John 2:13-17). In another similar
encounter, Jesus will say “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the
nations” [3]
(Mark 11:17).
To understand why Jesus reacted
this way, you need to understand how this
Temple was supposed to function. As you
climbed the steps to enter this Temple (which at this time had been expanded
and enhanced by the Herod family of kings), there was an outer area where
Gentiles were permitted to worship.
Because they were not born Jewish, nor converted to the Jewish faith,
they could not go beyond a railing (called the Soreg). It restricted access
to the actual Temple area. This outer
courtyard was known as the Court of the Gentiles. This was supposed to be a place where a
Gentile could come to observe worship or even pray to God. God intended that the Temple be a place where
people from all nations might draw near to Him.
In this Court of Gentiles, a
non-Jewish individual could mingle with the Jews who could then tell them about
Yahweh – the one true God. Instead, if a
Gentile DID find his way into this
courtyard, they would see corruption and greed.
We are given the impression that there was so much commerce going on in
this area that a Gentile would have to fight their way in. So it appears that the Jewish leaders had
forgotten the whole purpose for the Temple.
It was to be a place where people living in darkness might come to the
light. It was not to be a country club,
but a hospital for those infected by sin.
Recognizing this failure, the Lord stirs things up, creates a bit of
chaos, and scolds the Jews for losing sight of their purpose.
I’ve often wondered if the Lord
does the same thing today.
As you look at the life of Jesus, He
was always thinking of the lost soul who was still living in darkness. He seemed to have a Kingdom focus – always
looking for a way to connect with a person, and help that person find their way
back to God. And I guess we shouldn’t be
surprised about this. He is the Messiah,
after all. But what we sometimes forget
is that since the Lord ascended to Heaven, we, His followers, have been
commissioned to continue this work that He first began. Just as Jesus reached out to those living in
darkness, so too must the Church. As
Christians, it is our responsibility and our duty to make sure those living in
darkness are welcomed, that the Church help these people come and see, that the Church offer them living water, and the bread
of life. But if a Church loses sight
of this or is too busy with other things, those living in darkness will remain
that way. They will continue to thirst -
to starve - for purpose and meaning in life.
Is it any wonder, then, that the Lord would turn over the tables of that
church, creating chaos, until that church returns to the Great Commission?
It’s obvious to me that the Lord
demands that we become His hands, His feet, and His lips; that through us, the world might come to know Him as
Lord and Savior. After all, if the only
reason Jesus came to earth was to bring people to Heaven, why didn’t He rapture those first believers right away? If our only purpose in life was to become
saved, why doesn’t God whisk us away to Heaven the moment we believe? I suspect that the Lord has something else in
mind. I
believe that once He grants us Eternal Life, a believer has a
responsibility and duty to tell others
about Jesus up until the moment they take their last breath. A Christian should spend their lifetime
telling other about the Good News. This
is why He has us remain on this earth, sojourning through life, telling the
people we meet about Jesus.
Israel was so busy doing sacred things that they lost sight of who God
had called them to be. Because of this,
Gentiles had a hard time finding God. So
as a sort of self-evaluation, let’s look at ourselves. Have we become so busy with religious things that we have lost sight of the
Great Commission (which, by the way, says to GO, not wait for them to come)?
Is there a welcoming environment here that tells the unchurched they may
come? If they come, what will they hear
or what will they see? Will they hear
about Jesus, or will they hear about our latest fundraiser? What other things do you believe have caused
us to lose sight of God’s Great Commission?
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