Seven Types of Robbers In The House Of Prayer

Posted on July 1, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre 1 Comment

“My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers” is a statement of Jesus found in Luke 19:46. He made this statement in response to those who were selling animals and changing money in the Temple.

In my lifetime, the church has done a pretty good job of preventing the sale of animals and banking transactions from taking place on church grounds. On the surface, we have followed the teaching of Jesus in this regard.

As I reflect on this statement, I have an increasing level of discomfort about how well we’ve done in following the principle behind the statement.

What are robbers? There are two aspects of a robber that come to mind. The first is that he is not concerned about what is right and what is wrong. The robber is willing to take what is not his.

The second is that he is acting on his own behalf and not concerned about the welfare of others. The robber satisfies his own needs at the expense of another.

We don’t sell animals and we don’t cheat people by making them exchange their money. That’s good, but there are other ways we can emulate the people condemned by Jesus. We can keep the letter of the law while violating the principle behind it.

The principle is that we are to be about our Father’s business which is that of reconciling a hurting world with the loving Father. We are to be about His business and not our own. But, too often on a Sunday morning, our involvement is all about what is good for us and not what is pleasing to God and beneficial to others. If we do not come to the church meeting with the right motivation, we can then become like the robber.

We become like the robbers when we:

Are More concerned about attendance than spiritual growth
Are more concerned about appearing holy than being holy
Are manipulating people into giving money rather than depending upon God
Are more concerned about the buildings and the campus than the people, the true church
Are more concerned about being served than serving
Are more concerned about our reputation than God’s
Misrepresent God to the people who need him most, causing them to walk away feeling condemned

So, instead of smugly reading this passage and patting ourselves on the back for not allowing commerce to take place on church grounds on Sunday, let’s look at the real business that we are to be about.

The ancient Israelites missed the point of Temple worship and if we are honest, we sometimes struggle to stay on track. We live in a culture that encourages us to live for self first.

We need to allow God to show us where this selfishness has corrupted our worship and practice. The proper response then is to repent and allow God to bring change.

Because of wrong belief and practice, we’ve abandoned a lot of spiritual territory to the Enemy. It’s time to begin the battle to take it back . . . before it’s too late.

Salt or Dirt, Make a Choice

Posted on June 28, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus tells us that we are the “salt of the earth.” In Luke 14:34-35, the theme of salt is picked up again

“Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Jesus is saying that if you remove the flavor from salt, it becomes dirt. Therefore every believer wants to be salty and maintain flavor.

The problem comes in when I try to be salty on my own. My experience is that when I try to generate saltiness, I end up peddling repackaged dirt. I do not have the ability to generate saltiness on my own. Salt in food enhances the flavor. On the other hand, dirt in food is just annoying. I want to be salt and not dirt.

One of the downsides to growing up in a Christian environment is that I can get very good at playing the game and making things look better than they really are. I can become phony by appearing more holy than I really am.

“How are you?” “Fine.” “You?” “I’m good too.” The kids could be on drugs, the IRS could be knocking at the door, the mortgage company could be about to take the house away, but still things are “fine.” If you have been in the church for more than a few weeks, you have probably witnessed a thousand variations on this same theme of fake “fine.”

We as the body of Christ have to get past all this phony nonsense and do a better job of being real. Like the Velveteen Rabbit, we should be on a quest to become real to the world around us. If we do, the warts, struggles, shortcomings, rebellion and pride will show through at times and we I need to learn to be OK with that knowing that Jesus loves us enough to get us past it into something better.

The only way I can become not-phony is to understand my helplessness and to rely on the Holy Spirit to make me salty again. Galatians 5:22-23 gives us a list of the characteristics of one who is yielded to the Spirit. This is the salt that the world needs. Against this there is no law.

Lord, make us salty to a world that needs the flavor and preservation that only you can provide.

An Unholy Alliance: Pharisees and Herodians

Posted on June 17, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

An Unholy Alliance

We are moving toward a presidential election year in the United States. As a result, the political pundits are ramping up their efforts to develop a market for their predictions. With this backdrop, when I read Mark this morning, Mark 3:6 grabbed my attention. In this verse there is a simple statement that the Herodians and the Pharisees formed an alliance to see if they could get rid of a common problem. That problem was Jesus.

The Pharisees and the Herodians each sought to partner with and use the other for their own ends. To the Herodians Jesus was a political nuisance; to the Pharisees he was a religious one. To both, he was a threat to their power and influence.

The Politicos

The Herodians were the pragmatic politicos of the day. They were for anything that would allow their patron, Herod, to remain in power. Sound familiar? We have hundreds of modern day Herodians in office today. Purporting to be public servants, they protect their political power often at the expense of the truth and the people they represent.

The Religious Elite

The Pharisees were the religious leaders. Not all of them had wrong motives, but their zeal to appear holy often put them at odds with Jesus. Their legalistic mindset caused them to misunderstand God’s program. They did not recognize Jesus because they were certain of their own understanding of God and Scripture. There is a sense that many of the Pharisees were also more concerned about their power and position than the truth. One doesn’t have to look very hard in Christendom to find such as these today.

The True Church

We know that governments exist because God has granted them authority (Romans 13:1). Yet it is through the Church and not through governments that God chooses to work out his plan for humanity. The church should be very wary of seeking or using political power to advance its agenda.

The church is the chosen instrument of God to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to a world which desperately needs it. It is through the preaching of the gospel that men can be brought into relationship with Jesus Christ. A person who is brought into relationship with Jesus Christ will be changed in the way he lives and ultimately in the way he votes. The church should have this type of indirect influence on the political landscape. She should not seek to have a direct influence by organizing a political pressure group or any other such efforts.

Why? The temptation to use political power for seemingly good ends is a dangerous proposition for the church. Every time the organized church has gained political power, it has gone badly for the church and society. I have written about his before in Thinking out loud – The Church and Political Process.

I am not saying that the church should be silent on the issues facing society today. We should be speaking clearly on what the Bible says on these issues. What I am saying is that as these issues are discussed, the focus should be on commending individuals to submit to the truth of God’s word.

We need to keep in mind that the problem in our society is not a political one, it is a spiritual one. To address the political process without first addressing the core issue of sin is to treat the symptom instead of the cause of the disease.

What do you think?

Absent From the Great Banquet

Posted on June 13, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre 1 Comment

The Banquet Table is Set

Luke 14:16-24 records the parable of the Great Banquet. The main point of the story is that the invited guests gave lame excuses as to why they could not attend. In the place of the original invitees, the dregs of society are then persuaded to enter into the feast. Jesus concludes the parable by saying that “none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.”

The banquet is illustrative of a personal relationship. To sit down and have a meal with someone implies a bond of fellowship. Those invited were to dine with the house master and be in relationship.

The Pharisees clearly understood that the parable was intended to present the Pharisees as the ones with the lame excuses. It’s very hard to miss this point. I understood this even as a child when I read or heard this parable taught. The Pharisees missed out on relationship with God because of their limited understanding and hard hearts. They presented lame excuses as to why they would not enter into this relationship.

The connection that I didn’t make until recently is that not only were the Pharisees to enter into this relationship, they were to bring others in also. Isaiah 42:6 shows us that God intended Israel to be a light to the Gentiles. In Exodus 19:6, God tells the Israelites that they were to be a “kingdom of priests” to the world. The nation was to be an example of how and why one should be in relationship with the Creator God. They failed to accomplish this mission and were punished as a result.

Perfect Theology and a Hard Heart

It is very easy to heap condemnation on the Pharisees without making the effort to understand the root of their problem and take steps to avoid following their example.

This past weekend, I attended a block party in Philadelphia which was sponsored by a local church. The crowd was ethnically diverse and the social issues that challenge cities in America were on display. I found myself walking the length of the block party praying for the needs of the people. Interaction with some of the people was an encouragement to me. Some others clearly showed needs that I found overwhelming. Yet, how many years have these problems been going on and the church (myself included) has been largely absent, leaving the needs unmet.

The danger I see in the church is that like the Pharisees, we can dot every theological “i” and cross every doctrinal “t” and ignore the needs of the people in society around us. We can be so caught up in determining the correctness of the teaching that we miss opportunities to minister to those who are most open to the gospel. I know that I can get so caught up in being right that I miss the needs of the people around me.

I’m not saying that doctrine and correct theology are not important; they are. I am saying that we can use our quest for doctrinal integrity as an excuse to avoid the messy business of reaching out to those who most need the gospel. It is possible to have a perfect understanding of theology and have a hard heart. Our theology should drive us to the cross as we understand our own need of a savior. This should result in a passionate drive to bring others into relationship with Jesus. Correct theology should soften our hearts and make us, like Jesus, aware of the needs that God is calling us to meet.

You Have to Have It to Give It Away

Jesus, in Matthew 7:21-23 warns us that it is all about relationship and not about what we know and do. Yet having that relationship will drive us to be willing to be used by God to minister to all kinds of people. I’m reminded of a Muddy Waters lyric that says “you can’t spend what you ain’t got, you can’t loose what you ain’t never had.” In other words, you can’t bring people into relationship with someone you don’t even know.

The emphasis needs to be on relationship first and then on meeting the needs of the people. If we don’t deepen our own relationship with Jesus, we will struggle to give people what they most need. Yet, absence of the drive to minister to people may be an indication of problems with our own relationship with God. I am more like the Pharisees than I would like to acknowledge.

Discussion Question

What do you do to maintain awareness of the needs around you and sharpen the focus on bringing people into relationship with Jesus Christ?