By Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz

Mark 11:15-19

The Temple leaders allowed vendors to erect stalls on the Temple Mount surrounding the Temple. A good question for that time would have been, “Why did the Temple authorities allow money changers and vendors to conduct their activity in the Temple area?” The merchants could easily have set up their tables in the city. One possibility is that the Temple leaders were getting a kickback from the vendors.

This situation in Jesus’ time reminds me of going to a baseball game and seeing the different vendors selling concessions inside the park. There were also vendors set up outside the park. Of course, the baseball team did not get a percentage of the sales outside the park but they certainly did inside the park.

What about the Temple area in Jerusalem? Well, the animal sacrificial system created the need for money changers and vendors, just like the need for beer and peanuts at a baseball game. The requirement was fulfilled by these vendors then and now, but the activity should not occur where God is worshipped.

This situation at the Temple reminds me of a story told to me by my candidacy and ordination mentor, Brad. It’s not a perfect match but similar. Brad was appointed to a church in the York, PA area, and appointments in the United Methodist Church start on July 1. So, Brad went to his new church appointment where everything was going well until the first weekend in November. A church member came into his office and told him that he was to report to the church’s kitchen at 5:00 AM the following day. Why, Brad asked? The man looked shocked but responded, “Well, to cook the chili for the bazaar.” Brad immediately responded with a curt “No.” He explained to the parishioner that cooking chili and the holding a bazaar do not make disciples for Jesus Christ. Therefore, these activities should be cancelled. The church had held the bazaar for decades, and the leadership never understood why Brad did not help them cook the chili, but Brad’s question was this. “By holding a bazaar, is the church fulfilling its commitment to make disciples for Christ?”

This story begs an answer to these questions,

1. “How many church activities are not supporting the mission of making disciples?”
    
2. To what extent is your life for Christ encouraging discipleship?

Every church probably has some projects that are not contributing to this mission. One church where I served had an annual picnic and the whole community was invited. The church has held this picnic since 1945. However, the church never gave out information about the Sunday worship nor any other church event. Why, I asked? I was told that the picnic was not to bring people into the church but to raise money for the treasury. Because church members did not give a tithe, the church needed cash. Therefore, the picnic had nothing to do with making disciples for Christ.

A considerable amount of work and money was poured into that yearly event. One year I asked the Finance Chairperson how much the church earned from the picnic. It turned out to be a small amount of money because the cost of giving the bazaar was so high. The picnic brought in about $10,000 but it cost the church $9,000 from donations by members of the congregation to make all the purchases and to pay for the electricity. If the people had given the $9,000 as a donation to the church, they would have been financially better off. In 1945 the picnic had raised some money but starting in 2005 there were no longer any profits!

You are probably wondering why in 2021 that church still holds an annual picnic. The answer is because they have been doing this since 1945, which is not a good reason. In my last year of five at that church, I convinced the parishioners to allow me to distribute flyers about the church and to unlock the church doors so people attending the picnic could see the church. That was a shocker to the church leaders who complained that people might want to use our bathrooms! To avoid this possibility, several ugly outhouses were placed on the picnic grounds. That was not an event whose purpose was to make disciples for Christ.

When we turn to the account of Jesus turning over the money tables, he certainly would have caused a scene that let the religious leaders know that allowing vendors to sell on the Temple Mount was not for the LORD but rather for their selfish desire for money. Therefore, every church, every Christian organization, and every Christian believer should examine its activities and determine which are not making disciples for Christ. For each one of these, the activity must be changed to bolster the mission of making disciples. Those events that cannot be changed should be eliminated from the calendar.

The shrinking of congregations will continue, thus churches are not fulfilling the needs of God’s people. We need more disciples whose lives portray the glory of God. Folks, it is pouring outside our churches because life has become very difficult for people who are in need of the power of God. All the resources of a Christian organization as well as the commitment of individual Christians must be directed to a common goal of making disciples for Christ. Therefore, examine everything. Keep only those things in your life that are witnessing the glory of God and delete those things that are not.

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