He told those who sold pigeons, “Pick up this stuff, and get it out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!” (John 2:16)
Have you ever been to a church that seemed to be more of a store than a place of worship? Or listened to a preacher who spent more time talking about how many expenses he had than he spent actually preaching the Gospel? It was nothing new in Jesus’ day and it certainly is nothing new today. People have been taking financial advantage of the gospel for centuries. And we see what Jesus thought about this.
There are legitimate ministry needs that have to be met. It is our job to meet these needs. The apostle Paul made this very plain on several occasions. We are not to withhold our blessings from those who are ministering to us. As ministers we need to be very careful to only ask for what we need. Often God will provide above and beyond, but we should not seek this. Ministers – do not make His house into a marketplace!
The Jews at the Temple had no choice but to buy from these merchants. The system was stacked against them. Today we do have a choice. Pray that God will discipline those who abuse His house.
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